


a riot of color

by anawrites (anareadsfanfics)



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: ...Or is he?, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blended family, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Found Family, Gen, Ghoul Kaneki Ken, Half-Siblings, Human Kaneki Ken, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Kaneki knows ghouls before canon, Protective Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28806249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anareadsfanfics/pseuds/anawrites
Summary: Kaneki Ken knew his life would never be the same now that his mother was remarrying. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the man, indeed, in most respects he was an ideal candidate for a step-father.It was just that he was also a ghoul.(an exercise in not plotting a story to death. I don’t quite know where I’m going with this, just planning on enjoying the ride and not overthinking it -- as such, there will probably be mistakes, be forewarned)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ps i know nothing about japanese culture + have only seen the anime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: ages i'd pictured here are -> Mirai: 0 y/o, Ken: 4 y/o

Kaneki Ken was never going to have a normal life -- he knew that from the moment his mother sat him down and told him she was remarrying. 

The man she was engaged to, Kuromoto Reiko, was actually a great match for his hardworking, generous mother. He had met Reiko many months before, when the two had begun dating, and had immediately noticed the way he looked at his mother. Like she was something special. 

No one, not even her own sister, treated his mother with that same respect, and it was something Ken immediately approved of. 

Reiko was considerate. He never presumed to speak down to Ken, never ordered him around or dismissed him. When Ken turned four years old last month, Reiko presented him with a new book, one that had quickly become one of his favorites. 

For all intents and purposes, Kuromoto Reiko was the perfect addition to their little family. And yet, he would change everything. 

And that was because Kuromoto Reiko was a ghoul.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” his mother soothed him as his eyes widened and his breathing picked up speed. He’d heard all about ghouls at school, how if you were bad or if you wandered too far from your parents, a ghoul would snatch you up and eat you. His teachers had greatly emphasized how ghouls delighted in the pain and suffering of their victims. How they were monsters. 

Ken looked desperately at Reiko, who leaned against the far wall of the room, well away from the two Kanekis. This was the same man who had helped him with his math and his kanji when his mother was too busy working on her flowers. The man who was soon to be his new father refused to meet his eyes, his gaze lowered and his expression pained. 

“You don’t have to be afraid, darling,” his mother repeated, cupping his cheeks with her hands and forcing his gaze onto hers. “Reiko is not going to harm us. He has not harmed us. And he will not. He is a kind and gentle person, as you well know.” Her voice became more stern as she continued to talk, as the understanding dawned in her young son’s eyes.

“But it is very important you understand. You know I love Reiko and want to marry him and bring him into our family. You know he has been good to both of us, he has taken care of you when I am too busy with work and has come to love you like you were his own son. But he is in danger.” 

Ken’s eyes widened comically at that. Ghouls were the bogeymen, the monsters in the shadows. How could a ghoul be in danger? To the young boy, it was almost inconceivable. 

“Though he cannot eat the same as we do, he does not hurt innocents,” his mother continued, solemnly, “but there are those who do not believe ghouls can be honest, that they can be kind. Most people in Tokyo believe all ghouls should be killed, should be murdered, even if they’ve done nothing wrong.” 

Murdered! He knew about death, he had a vague concept of what it meant to kill or be killed, but his young mind could barely comprehend the idea of this man who had been more of a father figure to him than anyone else being taken away like that. 

His mother took a deep breath in before continuing. “And so I must ask you, I must _beg_ you my dear son, not to tell anyone about Reiko. To keep our family safe.” 

Ken refocused on his mother. He had noticed, in the months that Reiko had been with them, how her eyes were lighter than they used to be. He noticed the way that, even as she spoke to him, she twisted and fiddled with the gold engagement ring on her finger. His mind stuck on the word that she used. _Family_. 

His family had, up until this moment, just meant himself and his mother living their quiet life in their modest apartment. It had included his aunt, who never spoke to him and who always left his mother saddened with each visit, and his father, who had passed long ago and who neither of them spoke about. He had watched at school as his classmates had told stories about their families, about their adventures and the affections lavished upon them by two loving parents, and he had known jealousy, though he’d not known the feeling by its name yet. 

And now, someone, _Reiko_ , wanted to be a part of his family. Reiko, who asked him questions at the dinner table. Reiko who helped him when there were words he did not know in his books. Reiko, who had made his mother smile and laugh. Reiko _loved him_. Reiko wanted to be a father to him. 

He looked up at his mother, his hands clenched into fists with the sheer strength of his determination and his eyes resolute, and he told her, “I will keep our family safe.”

<>

Reiko, he would later learn, was not like other ghouls. 

Not that Ken knew much about ghouls. But, three days after his mother -- no, his _parents_ \-- had announced their engagement, Reiko had offered to answer any questions Ken had about ghouls. 

Any fear that Ken had felt about Reiko being what he was had ebbed away that very first day, and now he felt no compunctions bombarding the older man with a flurry of questions. 

“So if you don’t kill innocent people, what do you eat?” He looked up at Reiko with wide eyes and the other man chuckled. 

“Well you see, I work at a hospital. And at hospitals, sometimes patients get so sick that they are unable to recover, and they die.” Reiko looked uncertain as he explained the morbid subject to the young boy, but Kaneki just nodded his head impatiently, already knowing much about the goings on of hospitals from his many books. 

He continued, “I work in the part of the hospital where those bodies are, hmm, taken care of, before they are given back to their families. And, sometimes, it is quite easy for me to take what I need from them without anyone noticing.” He paused, unsure how much to share, “It is not, hmm… the best to eat, but it allows me to stay healthy and content without hurting others, and so it is just fine.” 

“Okay!” Ken quickly accepted that answer, ready to barrel on to his next question, but his mother interrupted him, sitting down beside him on the sofa and resting her arm around his shoulders. 

“And that is just what I have always told you, my darling boy,” she spoke softly into his ear, “that it is better to be hurt yourself than to hurt others.” 

Ken nodded, having heard the refrain before, his next question bubbling out of him before he could contain himself. 

“So do you have any superpowers?” 

His parents laughed at that, which brought a small pout onto Ken’s face. He didn’t think the question was so funny. 

“I am sorry for laughing,” Reiko calmed, though his voice was still mirthful, “it is just that, all my life, I have hidden what I was in fear of being discovered, of being hated. And now, to have someone so young, so kind and thoughtful, ask me these questions without judgement or scorn it… it truly lifts my spirit.” 

Ken smiled at that, happy to have made his new father happy. 

“Every ghoul has a special, let’s call it a superpower, called a _kagune_. They may take different forms, some manifest around the arm, some from the back. It is like… an extra limb, you might say, or a tail, or sometimes even wings. They can be very big and sharp, can stretch many feet, and are what most ghouls use to hunt or fight.” Reiko moved his hands exaggeratedly as he spoke, lending a dramatic air to his description. 

The young boy’s eyes had widened with every word, until he was nearly bouncing in his seat. His mother looked down fondly at her son who, even days before, had been so much more reserved and quiet. Having Reiko around, she mused, was truly bringing out good in the both of them. 

“Can you show me yours?” Ken asked, and Reiko sighed, the amusement fading from his eyes. Noticing the older man’s sudden change in mood, Ken immediately quietened, slapping a hand over his mouth with worry that he had asked something unforgivably inappropriate.

Noticing his son’s concern, Reiko quickly moved to reassure him, rising from his chair and coming to rest his hands on Ken’s shoulders. 

“Do not worry, you said nothing wrong,” he looked deep into Ken’s eyes to reassure him, before continuing on. “A long time ago, I was in a very difficult situation. I ended up getting really hurt and my _kakuhou_ , which is what we call the place in the body where a ghoul’s _kagune_ is stored, was damaged. I was healed, eventually, but I was never able to access my _kagune_ again after that night.” 

Ken processed his words for a moment, before coming to a conclusion, “But it was okay, right? Because you don’t actually need to hunt, so you were okay?” 

Reiko sighed, moving to sit on Ken’s other side.

“I am not the same person today that I was then, I was very angry and frustrated at the world for how ghouls were -- are -- treated, and because of that I lashed out, and I hurt a lot of people. My injury was, I like to think of it now, a punishment and a reckoning, and so for a while I was very hurt in the ways that I had made others hurt before.” 

He sighed, looking away from the younger boy for a moment to gather himself. “But what it did teach me was kindness, empathy, and it forced me to figure out a way to survive with those values in mind. And so though it was not easy, it was what needed to happen for me to become a better ghoul, and a better person.” 

Ken nodded slowly along with Reiko’s words, pursing his lips and his little brow furrowing as he attempted to process the story he’d just been told. Though he did not fully understand the weight and explicit meaning of Reiko’s words, he did understand that when you make a mistake, you must apologize for it and try to do better the next time. And as long as Reiko did that, even if he was a ghoul, he must be a good person. 

That conclusion settled, and an eager smile overtaking his face once more, he launched into the next question, subtly leaning into Reiko’s side while his mother raked her fingers gently through his hair. 

<>

Kaneki Ken, for he was still a Kaneki as he and his mother had decided not to change their names, was having the best day of his life. 

Not only had he made a new friend today at school, a little blonde boy named Hideyoshi Nagachika who was new and who had _specifically_ wanted to be friends with Ken instead of the rest of their classmates, but when he had arrived back home his parents had given him the news. 

Kaneki Ken was going to be a big brother. 

After his brain had momentarily whited out from sheer joy, and after he’d taken the time to prance around, announcing himself as ‘big brother Ken’ to all who could hear, he paused for a moment as the realization settled in. 

“Mama,” he pulled at his mother’s sleeve, interrupting her as she washed dishes at the sink, “is the baby going to be like Reiko?”

A shadow crossed over his mother’s face before her expression smoothed over, but even young as he was he could tell that something was wrong. But she smiled down at him when she told him, “No, darling, the baby is going to be like you and me _and_ like Reiko. The baby is going to be very, _very_ special.”

She knelt down in front of him to put them at eye level, and took his hands in her own, causing him to squeal and giggle at the shock of the cold water drying on her hands. Her face turned serious, she had not been this serious since she had told him she was going to marry Reiko almost a year ago now. 

“You have been a very good boy, you have protected our family well by keeping Reiko’s secret from your friends. And now you must keep this baby’s secret too.” She smiled at him, though it was a sad smile, “We do not know yet what this baby will be able to eat or do, but we do know they are also going to be in danger. From the CCG, and from regular people. Even people who we might call friends,” 

Ken’s expression fell at that, his excitement at having made a new friend at school today tempered by reality. 

His mother smiled, and stroked her thumbs over the backs of his hands, “Don’t look so sad, my darling. You are going to be a big brother. That is a big responsibility, yes, but it is also a gift and an honor.” 

And Ken, who had not received many gifts or honors in his short life, positively beamed at that. 

Nine-and-a-half months later, Kuromoto Mirai was born to two joyous parents at the local hospital. However she was not, as one might expect, born in a delivery room. 

Knowing that there might be signs on the newborn indicating her less-than-human status, the two parents had spent the weeks before the birth sneakily preparing a room at Reiko’s place of work, soundproofing and stocking it with all of the materials they might need. 

On the night of the delivery, Reiko contacted an old friend who worked as a midwife in the 6th Ward and the three of them, along with a young Ken who was told to wait outside so as to not watch his mother in excruciating pain, snuck into the hospital and successfully (and with surprisingly little incident) brought the half-ghoul child into the world. 

Reiko helped his wife back to their apartment, supporting her weakened frame as she shuffled to their shared bed, while Ken stood holding the newborn baby in his arms. He looked down at the child, his sister, Mirai, and caught her as she stared up at him. For a moment, her _kakugan_ flared, the black and red overtaking the natural brown and whites of her eye. 

Ken, who had seen Reiko’s _kakugan_ once before, was surprised to note that only one of her eyes changed. He stroked a hand down the side of her face and her eye faded back to its human appearance. What looked like a smile stole across her face as she closed her eyes and nestled back into his arms. 

This was his little sister. His family. It was all becoming real, he was a big brother and he had a duty to protect his family. He felt in his arms how fragile little Mirai was, and immediately grew concerned about the dangers that she would face outside the four walls of their apartment. 

“Nothing will hurt you,” he whispered to the now sleeping baby he carried, “I will protect you, I swear it. I am your big brother, and so nobody’s gonna get you, because they’ll have to go through me.”  
  


He stood there for a long while just staring down at his sister, drinking in her features, before bringing little Mirai back to her mother’s waiting arms. Reiko stood next to them, staring down at Mirai with awe and wonder written all over his face, and for just a moment Ken felt hesitation. 

Would Reiko still want to be a father to him, now that he had his own child? Or would he just get in the way. Would he go back to being the fatherless nobody, the lonely boy who only had the characters in his books for company. The doubt, once kindled, roared to life within the young boy like a wildfire, fears of abandonment and loneliness growing by the second. 

Almost as if sensing his racing thoughts, Reiko came over to where Ken stood at the far end of the room and wrapped him in an embrace. Even just the soft, woodsy scent of the man who had been more of a father to Ken than the man who’d helped make him soothed some of the anxiety away. 

“I hope you know that this doesn’t change anything between us,” the man said to Ken gently, pulling back and taking one of the boy’s shoulders in his hand, rubbing his thumb reassuringly over the fabric of Ken’s shirt. 

Ken worried his lip between his teeth, and peered up at Reiko through his nearly overgrown fringe. “I am not your child, though, not really. Not like Mirai.” His voice was soft, hesitant. Scared.

“Ken, you may not be my blood but you are my son in all the ways that matter. You were one of the first humans to accept me for who I am, for _what_ I am, and though we have not formally discussed this, you would do me a great honor to let me serve as your father.” His words were solemn, but there was an undeniable spark of joy in his eyes, and Ken could not help but smile. 

Ken leapt up onto Reiko, throwing his arms around the man’s neck and pushing his face into his broad chest. 

And with his lips barely moving, and his voice barely audible, he assented. 

“Okay...Papa.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few disclaimers
> 
> 1) updating the tags for canon-typical violence, be warned!
> 
> 2) i am very new to writing action/angst like this lol 
> 
> also just generally, still don't know most japanese customs, etc. and still just trying to have fun and go with the flow with this piece. Honestly thought I'd get to at least the first episode with this chapter, but it took on a life of its own. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy if you decide to stick around :)
> 
> EDIT: ages i'd pictured here are -> Mirai: 9 y/o, Ken: 13 y/o

From a young age, Kuromoto Mirai had learned that the best course of action often was to just keep one’s mouth shut. This was especially true in the classroom. 

“While we don’t know precisely where ghouls come from,” Suzuki-sensei paced in front of her fourth grade class, her arms crossed. Behind her, ‘Ghoul History’ was scrawled in large letters on the blackboard, “We can trace back ghoul encounters far into humanity’s past. In all of these accounts, one thing is made obvious -- ghouls, while they may look like us, are conscious-less, monstrous mockeries of human beings,” 

The chiming of the clock signaled the end of the class period. “Alright class, you have your assignments, I will see you on Monday,” the voice of Suzuki-sensei floated over the rush of noise as students sprang from their chairs.

It took a few moments for Mirai to realize that, unlike the rest of her classmates, she had not yet moved. Uncurling her fingers from her palms, she winced. Her fists must have been clenched tightly through the whole lecture, as removing her fingers revealed dark red half-moon nail marks in her palm. 

The young girl rubbed at her eyes and stretched out her neck, quickly moving out of her seat and gathering her belongings so as not to attract attention. That was rule number one: never do  _ anything _ suspicious. 

Shrugging the straps of her backpack over her shoulders, Mirai quickly exited the classroom. As she walked down the hallways, she would occasionally raise a hand in greeting to students she knew, giving them a small smile that, today, couldn’t reach her eyes no matter how hard she tried. 

Turning sharply to her right, she pushed her way into the restroom, quickly moving into a stall and locking it behind her. Dropping down onto the toilet without even removing her clothes, she rested her head in her hands, feeling the flaring of her  _ kakugan _ which she had been working to suppress over the past hour. She took a couple deep breaths, trying to steady her pounding heart. 

It was getting harder and harder to control herself, especially when she was forced to listen to hour long sermons about how she was an evil monster. Her father had been adamant that she attend school with other human children, even despite her mother’s concern. And, to an extent, she understood his insistence. 

It was just that some days were much harder than others.

It took a little while, but Mirai was finally able to wrest control of herself, making her way out of the restroom and out into the school’s courtyard. 

The air was full of the shouts and sounds of children, playing and talking with one another now that the school day was at its end.

“Mirai!” The sound of her name came from behind her and she turned, a smile on her face.

“Hey Daichi,” she greeted the younger boy who had been her first friend at this school. 

“What a lecture, right?” Her friend rolled his eyes, “Suzuki-sensei really does sound like a robot sometimes. Beep. boop.” he danced around, moving his arms and head in a jerking mimicry of a robot, and Mirai laughed along with him, “Ghouls. are. dangerous. beep.”

“Daichi, stop!” Mirai urged in hushed tones, though she could not keep from laughing, “knowing your luck, she will appear right behind you!”

“You are right,” he nodded solemnly, though the sparkle of laughter remained in his eyes, “I still don’t know how  _ nobody _ told me that Nakamura-sensei was standing right behind me last time.” He rubbed at his wrists wistfully, recalling the sharp punishment he’d received for those jokes. 

“We  _ were _ trying to warn you,” Mirai replied, the two heading off in the direction of the school’s gates, “you were just too wrapped up in your jokes to notice,” 

“Ach,” Daichi pressed his arm to his chest, feigning injury, “these people do not understand comedy.” 

“Are you sure they’re the ones that don’t understand comedy?” Mirai threw back teasingly, “Or maybe your jokes just aren’t that good,” 

“My friend turns against me!” Daichi threw his arms up, prompting Mirai to grab at him, shushing him even through her laughter. 

Once the two got through the school gates, they leaned against the walls surrounding the school buildings in customary wait for their respective siblings. Daichi pulled a book out of his bag, shoving it towards Mirai. 

“Check it out! The newest edition. I haven’t started it yet, don’t worry!” 

Mirai took the thin book into her hands, fingers running over the smooth paper copy. It was in fact the newest edition of the pair’s favorite manga,  _ Demonic Brotherhood _ . The series covered the adventures of a private investigator, Kawamura Yoshiro, who worked with a secret underground network of humans and ghouls to solve crimes and save Tokyo from various dangers. 

It was thanks to  _ Demonic Brotherhood _ that Mirai had met Daichi. She had joined school at an older age, only permitted to attend once her parents were assured she could control her  _ kakugan _ . And, because most of the children attending the elementary school had joined when they were very young, not many were interested in making friends with the quiet new girl. 

She had, one afternoon, stumbled upon three other boys picking on a smaller boy after school. Two of the bullies were holding the poor boy down, while a third perused the book he had been reading. They had mocked Daichi for reading “ghoul-loving garbage”, and the bully holding his book proceeded to tear it up, throw it down into the dirt and stomp on it. 

After the three bullies had flounced off leaving Daichi in the dirt and his manga torn up, Mirai had approached him. She’d offered to help him repair his manga, taking him back to her house and using some of her mother’s special glue. The two of them worked for hours, slowly piecing together the destroyed manga, and by the end Kuromoto Mirai had made her first human friend. Her first friend, period. 

Now, all those months later, she traced the image of Yoshiro on the cover of the manga, remembering that first day vividly. 

“Do you want to come over, and we can read it?” Daichi prompted, and Mirai sighed, shaking her head. 

“I can’t, not today,” she replied, “Mom had to take another job this week, so Ken and I have to help around the house tonight,” 

While money was not as much of an issue nowadays with her mother and father both working, the family would sporadically go through periods of financial hardship. Her parents didn’t realize that she and her brother both knew those periods were often followed by a visit from their aunt, who would plead for money from their overly generous mother semi-regularly. 

However, knowing it was not their place to question their parents' decisions, on days like today the two siblings silently accepted that sometimes they would just need to help out more. 

“Ach, that’s okay,” Daichi sighed, turning his head as footsteps sounded from just down the way. In the distance, she could see Ken walking beside Hiroshi, Daichi’s elder brother, the two slowly approaching the school and chatting leisurely. “I won’t start without you, don’t worry,” Daichi stuck out his pinky finger, and Mirai grasped the digit with her own. The two shook on it, nodding at each other.

“Afternoon, Ken!” Daichi threw over his shoulder as the two elder boys neared. Ken gave a soft smile in return at Daichi’s exuberance, and nodded in return. Her elder brother had often commented on how alike Daichi was to his best friend, Hide, in terms of their effortless exuberance and joyful attitudes. It had made it very easy for Ken, and by extension their parents, to trust his beloved younger sister with the younger boy -- not with their family’s secret, never that, but to at least not treat her poorly.

The two pairs of siblings headed off in the same direction towards the center of the 14th Ward, though they quickly split ways as their paths home diverged. 

“How was your day, today,” Ken prodded Mirai now that their company had departed. Mirai looked down, scuffing her foot on the sidewalk as they waited for the light to change and allow them to cross the street. 

“Suzuki-sensei gave another ghoul lecture today,” her voice was low, so as to avoid being overheard by other pedestrians. “It’s getting harder to...keep my cool,” she always had to choose her words so carefully when they were in public. They both did. 

Ken rested a hand on Mirai’s shoulder, taking her into an impromptu one-armed hug. While he was never going to be outspoken or overly effusive, he was more prone to physical affection around his sister and his family. Mirai had always teased him, saying that if she’d never been born no one would be around to save him from drowning in his books. She didn’t know how correct she was. 

“What matters is that the people closest to you know the truth,” Ken quoted their father word-for-word, whispered into her ear, before pulling away to continue walking beside her. 

They rounded a corner and spotted a crowd of people gathered around a storefront. The windows appeared to have been shattered, and several men wearing suits and carrying briefcases appeared to be investigating. 

_ Doves _ . 

Mirai’s shoulders stiffened, and she could see Ken tensing out of the corner of her eye. 

“Just keep walking,” her brother muttered, taking her hand within his own and pulling her along. She was grateful, as the cold feeling of fear washing down her back had started to make her limbs feel leaden.

Doves were not an uncommon sight around the 14th ward. Growing up, the area had generally been peaceful, with very few ghoul attacks prompting the CCGs presence there. However more recently there had been suspicious activity, people going missing, stores getting broken into, and of course the first call made was to the CCG investigators. 

Their father had warned the two of them that this might mean increased Dove activity in the ward, telling them to keep their guards up. 

The investigators around the storefront did not seem to be paying much attention to the passersby on the street, and so the two siblings were able to duck into an alleyway to avoid crossing paths with them.

Mirai released the breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She looked over to her brother to see his expression was more serious than usual.

“That was the third one this week,” he murmured, almost to himself, but Mirai still heard him. 

“The third break in?” Mirai, shocked, had not heard about this. 

“Yes, and two other people have gone missing in the past month,” Ken replied. “Coupled with that, the police are more certain that they are all linked to ghoul activity.” 

“How do you know all this, Ken?”

The two continued through the network of alleyways and side streets that they knew almost like the backs of their hands, comfortably navigating the neighborhood they’d grown up in almost on autopilot.

Ken chuckled, “Hide’s been watching a lot of police television recently, and so he decided to get a police scanner app on his phone. He’s convinced he wants to be a detective when he grows up.” 

Mirai smiled at that. Hide had a new dream job every other week. Just this time the other day, Ken had reported his friend’s dream to be a famous chef, bemoaning the botched recipes Hide had made him try. 

They had almost made it, nearing their street when all of a sudden they heard the crashing of broken glass from up ahead.

Wary of the setting winter sun and the lack of other people around them, Ken drew Mirai behind him and the two carefully made their way forward. Up ahead, obscured by the hulking form of a dumpster, they could barely make out what looked like -- a pair of legs? 

And that’s when it hit Mirai. That scent.  _ Blood _ . 

Even as her mouth started watering, she had fed recently enough to maintain control of herself. 

“Ken,” she tugged at her older brother’s shirt, trying to pull him back in the direction they had come from. “I can smell blood,” 

Her older brother turned to her, his eyes wide, and before the two could make a move the sound of harsh laughter stopped them in their tracks. 

“Hey, now,” a tall shadow emerged from behind the dumpster, the fading sun obscuring their face but not their massive size. “Where do you two kiddies think you’re going?” 

Ken’s voice was steady, but Mirai could feel his hand shaking where it grasped her own. As the figure neared them, the smell of blood grew stronger and stronger, and Mirai had to fight to keep a low whimper from escaping her lips. 

“We don’t want any trouble,” He held his other hand up, in the universal sign for calm. “I just want to take my sister home. Please, let us pass.” 

The figure took a deep inhale, and then noisily exhaled through his mouth, “Hmmmm,” he hummed, “something smells  _ good _ .” Even through the growing darkness, Mirai could see the red flaring of a  _ kakugan _ . The ghoul drew nearer slowly, toying with the two of them. “Which one of you little piggies smells  _ so delicious _ .” 

The flickering street lamp from above illuminated the face of the ghoul stalking towards them as he drew under its light, revealing a face stained with blood and bits of flesh. Behind him, a blood-red _bikaku_ _kagune_ materialized, coiling and lashing, preparing to strike. 

“Please,” Ken tried one more time, “please don’t.” 

“Aww,” the ghoul cooed cruelly, sneering in the face of Ken’s obvious terror, “listen to the little piggy beg.” 

“Ken,” Mirai whispered harshly at her brother, knowing that she had to do something. She tried to push forward, but Ken’s arm restrained her, “He’s not gonna let us go. Just let me--”

“No, Mirai,” Ken hissed, cutting her off, “We have to run!” He backed away, taking his sister with him, but the ghoul kept advancing. 

The two siblings turned and made to run, but without warning, the ghoul’s  _ kagune _ snapped forward. It’s pincer-like claws grabbed at Ken’s waist, and with a scream he was pulled out of Mirai’s grasp, his legs churning uselessly in the air.

“No!” Mirai screamed, reaching for her brother, and in her fury her  _ kagune _ emerged from the small of her back, her single  _ kakugan _ enveloping the whites and blacks of her left eye. Far from being impressive or intimidating however, her  _ kagune _ ,  _ rinkaku _ just like her father’s supposedly was, was not easily controlled at her young age. While the two tentacles on the right were poised for a fight, the left two flopped down uselessly by her side. 

“Ooh, what do we have here,” the ghoul leaned forward with interest at Mirai, still clutching a struggling Ken in with his  _ kagune _ . “What  _ are _ you? Certainly not another little piggy,” 

“Put. Him. Down.” Mirai snarled, the weak twitching of half of her  _ kagune _ undercutting the pure fury in her tone. 

“Oh, I don’t think so,” the ghoul chuckled lightly, “but I do think I’ll take my appetizer  _ first _ !” He lurched forward, his  _ kagune _ dropping Ken and shooting forward towards Mirai. 

Mirai could faintly hear her brother screaming her name as she scrambled to dodge out of the way, the mass of Rc cells narrowly missing her. Breathing harsh, she picked herself up and with a cry of undiluted rage lunged towards the ghoul. Her  _ kagune _ , or at least the parts of it she was able to control, shot forward, their ends forming into sharp, deadly points. 

The ghoul laughed, easily knocking aside Mirai’s  _ kagune _ with his own and pushing forward into her space. His hand connected with her stomach and sent the young girl flying into the building behind her. 

Mirai coughed, the pain in her abdomen unlike anything she had ever experienced, and weakly attempted to raise her head. 

Scrambling to get her feet beneath her, she thrust her  _ kagune _ forward again, only to be mercilessly pummelled by her opponent. The ghoul’s  _ kagune _ tore at her, punching holes straight through her left leg and then her right, effectively crippling her and forcing her back down to the ground. Mirai vision whited out. She screamed, and kept screaming. 

Her  _ kagune _ gone, forced back into her body from the damage, she was left completely exposed on the ground. She could see Ken over by the dumpster, trying to get his feet out from underneath him, and a fleeting, crushing wave of despair washed over her. 

The ghoul giggled maniacally, eyes rolling in his skull and tongue hanging out of his mouth as he sprang for her. Mirai closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable bite of teeth into her flesh. 

But it never came. 

Instead there was a whooshing noise above her, a slight breeze, and a loud crash from down the way. 

She opened her eyes to see a  _ kagune _ extended over her body, retracting back from where it had come. 

_ No _ , she realized with horror, turning her head to find it’s source,  _ it was a quinque.  _

Two investigators stood on one side of her, their dark sunglasses completely out of place at night. At her other side, the ghoul lay in a heap on the ground, clutching his side, his body shaking with his crazed laughter. Mirai held her body still, hoping desperately that the investigators would not look towards her.

It seemed to work, as the investigators prowled forward intently focused on the ghoul.

“You’ve led us on a fine chase, Kobayashi,” one of the doves, the one holding the still-retracting quinque, said to the prone ghoul, “but it’s all over now. We know your face, we know you are the Wasp. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.” 

The ghoul cackled wetly from his position on the ground, “Oh Tanabe, my old friend, how wrong you are. We’ve only just begun.” 

Without warning Kobayashi lunged towards the investigators,  _ kagune _ outstretched, and the two doves dodged to either side. One of them, Tanabe, landed close to Mirai but did not acknowledge her as he sprang up, his quinque extending. 

Almost mesmerized by the fighting occurring just before her, Mirai almost did not notice the hand desperately gripping her shoulder, shaking her violently. She turned her head to see Ken, with blood dripping down from a cut just above his left eye, whispering her name.

“Mirai, we have to go!” His eyes were wild, “Quickly, quickly!” 

He pulled her up by her arm, struggling to help support her weight and shushing her as she let out a little scream of pain. Her whole body hurt, her legs were not working like they should, and bearing weight on them was absolutely excruciating. Looping an arm around her older brother’s shoulder the two staggered just to the mouth of the alleyway and around the corner before her weakened body gave out. 

Mirai fell to the floor, the sounds of fighting from behind them growing louder and more violent. 

“Ken, I can’t,” Mirai whimpered, “It hurts, I can’t,” they both looked down to see the gaping wounds on both of her legs dripping blood onto the pavement. 

“I can’t carry you, I’m not strong enough,” Ken said, half to himself, his despair evident in his voice, his eyes blank. He peered around the corner where Mirai could not see, assessing the status of the ongoing fight between the doves and the ghoul, and flinched at what he saw. 

After a moment of near frantic thought, Ken’s eyes hardened, his gaze fixing back on his little sister. Mirai looked up at him, and the big brother who had always protected her, who’d always been there for her, and wondered if this was how they both were going to die. She almost didn’t comprehend the next words that came out of his mouth, ridiculous as they were. 

“What?” The question escaped her, released almost involuntarily as Ken thrust his exposed shoulder blade towards her mouth. 

“You need to eat! You need enough strength for us to get home, quickly before they finish fighting,” He urged her, dragging the collar of his shirt down further and pushing his body closer to hers. 

Mirai reflexively recoiled away from the tantalizing smell of her brother’s flesh. 

“No!”

A scream came from deep in the alley, though it was unclear which side of the fight it came from, both siblings startled at the interruption. 

“Mirai!” Ken refocused, pulling back and looking her straight in the eye. “I need you to trust me. Can you do that?” 

She nodded up at him, still torn between her repulsion and her desire to bite into her older brother. 

“I will be fine. Please, Mirai. Trust me.” 

Not knowing what else she could do, she nodded her assent. Ken brought his barren shoulder closer, and she tentatively reached out with her mouth. Her teeth came to rest on his skin, she could hear, could feel the faint beat of Ken’s pulse, flitting fast like the wings of a hummingbird. 

“Please,” Ken whispered into her ear. “It’ll be okay, Mirai.” 

Mirai inhaled and the scent of flesh, so close and so readily available, nearly overwhelmed her. She had never been so weakened, so desperate for sustenance, and though she had eaten recently she felt like she’d been starving for weeks. Months. With what little strength she had left she lunged forward and sunk her teeth into her brother.

She could distantly hear his hissed inhale, his stifled cry. The taste hit her mouth and all she could think was,  _ more. need. more.  _

She bit again, and again, sucking, slurping, reveling. Her hands came around to secure her prey, keep it from moving out of her grasp. Pulling away, she inhaled deeply, and felt her mouth curve into a deep, bloodthirsty grin. Her vision was washed over with the red of blood, it was all she could think about. She could feel her meal squirming, trying to escape, and a feral, inhuman growl escaped her mouth. She bit down again, this time ripping, tearing, it was almost too good to be--

“Mirai, it’s okay, ” 

It was quiet, right up next to her ear, and somehow she could still hear it through the haze of bloodlust. 

“Love you, Mimi,” her brother whispered, his voice hitching. 

Like the bursting of a dam, Mirai’s humanity flooded back into her. She pulled back, stifling the horrified scream that threatened to burst from her mouth with her hand, and nearly becoming ill at the feeling of gore on her face. 

Her brother’s neck was a mess of teeth marks and blood. Later she would feel equal relief and horror at how close she came to killing him, how she barely missed cutting open a major artery, causing Ken to bleed to death. 

“Ken-Ken,” she could barely get out the nickname that she had had for him when she was young enough to find delight in such things. She felt dirty, disgusting. Monstrous. “I’m--I...I’m so--” 

A crash and a piercing scream came from just around the alley, where the investigators still appeared to be fighting against the ghoul, Kobayashi. 

“Ken, we have to go,” she choked with tears as she prodded at her brother, who had collapsed over her as soon as she had released him. 

“Yeah...yeah,” his voice was weak, but he was still awake and speaking, and so Mirai told herself that he would be fine. He had to be fine. Mama and Papa would fix it, and then she would make it so nothing would ever hurt her big brother ever again, not even her.  _ Especially not her. _

With the strength newly gained from her meal, Mirai helped Ken to his feet. The two siblings, leaning on each other and covered in blood, slowly limped their way home, the eerie mix of Kobayashi’s screams and demented cackling ringing in their ears long after he was but a memory. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all - WOW thank you to everyone who read, left kudos, subscribed, commented.... i am in shock! this is the first fic i have ever posted, or even written more than two chapters for, so i truly appreciate every single one of you!
> 
> also, i know I said that this is an exercise in not overthinking + plotting but... i now have an outline for at least the next few chapters. so yay! lol. still just trying to have fun with this, and so far its working 
> 
> for this chapter, i thought yet again that I would get to the first episode.. alas, it might be a while, this scene just started to take on a life of its own... again.
> 
> couple notes: I again know very little about japanese culture. also sorry for the bastardized FDR quote it was cheesy but i had to do it. ALSO also i googled what japanese schools do for detention and the article i read said that they...didn't...because japanese children are just...more well behaved? that seemed incorrect to me but oh well. again, not thinking too hard about it. 
> 
> and lastly i had to sort out ages, so that Mirai would be closer to Touka's age than Hinami's during canon. I ended up just aging people at Kaneki's age level... Here's what I came up with for when we finally get to canon: Ken/Hide/Nishiki age 20, Touka 18, Mirai age 16, Hinami age 13. I also updated the first chapter to reflect this (but it's so small no one will notice lol) This is fanfiction, so i refuse to think about ages and continuity more than i already have hehe. 
> 
> Ok this note is too long, oh well, hope you enjoy this next chapter with it's little *sprinkling* of ~foreshadowing~ ;)
> 
> last time: Ken and Mirai had just escaped the ghoul Kobayashi
> 
> EDIT: ages i'd pictured are Mirai: 9/10 years, Ken: 13/14 years

Their parents were, understandably, horrified when the two siblings made it home that night. 

Reiko took Mirai away almost immediately, using up a majority of their food stores to get her well and healed. Their mother tended to Ken, rushing about trying to find bandages and antiseptic. Once Mirai had recovered adequately Reiko, with his medical training and substantial self-control, took over. 

The silence of the room weighed heavily on both father and son as Reiko slowly but steadily sewed Ken’s wounds shut, the boy biting his lip but stoic in the face of the pain. 

Ken was more alert now than he had been just after Mirai had released him, the events of the past hour rushing back to him. His shoulder throbbed violently, Reiko’s hands cool against the fire of his wounds. When he closed his eyes, he saw Kobayashi’s crazed grin behind his eyelids, felt the grip of his sister as she feasted on him. He shuddered involuntarily.

“What you did was incredibly brave, Ken,” Reiko murmured softly, neither looking at the other as the older man focused on his suturing. 

“I didn’t feel brave,” Ken exhaled, looking down at the floor, remembering his weakness, his failure to keep Mirai safe. 

“Bravery is not the absence of fear,” Reiko answered, moving away to grab a bandage from the small pile that his mother had gathered before leaving to tend to his sister. “It is acting in spite of fear.” He applied the bandage onto Ken’s shoulder, and then went to get the boy some water and painkillers. 

“I _didn’t_ act, though,” Ken muttered, gaze still lowered, “I couldn’t even run before he grabbed me. I let her get hurt, she was… she looked--.” He could still see the gaping wounds in his mind’s eye, could still hear Mirai’s desperate scream echoing around in his head. 

Reiko grasped Ken’s chin between thumb and forefinger, and raised his head so their eyes could meet. 

“You got yourself and your sister home, alive. In the end, that is all that matters. Very few would have come out of a similar situation alive, human or ghoul.” Reiko looked at Ken with a fierce intensity, more than a hint of urgency and panic visible in his eyes. “You have nothing to be ashamed of, and everything to be proud of, my son.” 

After a few moments of silence Ken nodded, and Reiko released his grip on his chin. However, he was not done speaking. 

“What you did was brave, yes,” he continued, “but you should never again offer yourself to Mirai like that,” 

“But--” Ken started, intent on defending his actions, though Reiko quickly interrupted him.

“The situation was dire, I will admit. I don’t know what else you could have done. I understand why you did what you did. But you were lucky that Mirai was able to stop herself, wounded as she was.” Reiko looked visibly disturbed, and when he raked his hand through his hair Ken thought he saw his fingers trembling. 

“You cannot understand the hunger, especially for one so young as Mirai, but it is all consuming. It erases much of our humanity, our emotions…” Reiko looked away, ashamed. “And when we are wounded, ghouls… we can become desperate, ravenous,” he snapped his fingers for effect, “instantly.” 

Ken thought back to the moment, brief though it was, where he was sure that Mirai was going to kill him. He had felt her grasp tightening, had heard the inhuman rumbling in her chest and felt the tearing at his flesh, and he had just for a moment lost hope. But even then, he did not regret his choice or blame Mirai, he only worried for her. 

He knew causing him injury, let alone killing him, would destroy his kindhearted younger sister. His little sister who, upon finding an injured alley cat behind their apartment building, insisted they nurse it back to health. Who became friends with bullied little boys and painstakingly helped them piece their ruined mangas back together. 

“If i have to die,” Ken murmured, breaking the silence that had settled over the two in the wake of Reiko’s pronouncement, “then saving Mirai would be a good way to go.” 

“Who says you _have_ to die, Ken,” Reiko asked, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, concern evident in his voice. 

“I promised to protect her,” Ken started quietly, “to do my duty as her brother. I didn’t know before today how far I would go to fulfill that duty.” He looked up at Reiko, his resolve strengthening his voice. “But now I do.” 

Reiko gaped at him, evidently lost for words. It took several moments before he could gather himself, hefting himself up onto the kitchen table that had served as their makeshift hospital bed to sit besides his adopted son.

“I know I should be telling you not to say things like that,” Reiko began, eyes intently staring directly ahead, off at the far wall. “And I will be clear, your life is just as important as your sister’s, and in a perfect world neither of you would be thinking of sacrificing yourselves for the other.” 

He heaved a sigh. “But this is not a perfect world we live in. And, were I in that position, I too would give everything for Mirai, or you, or your mother. In the midst of this war,” Reiko inhaled deeply and, without turning to look at Ken, took one of his hands in his own and squeezed tightly, “family is everything.” 

Ken nodded, tears budding in his eyes, and the two sat in silence together for a long while, waiting for the horrors of the past few hours to fade away.

<>

It had been two weeks since the incident, and Mirai still wouldn’t look Ken in the eye. She would remain silent on their walks home from school despite Ken’s prodding, and whenever they found themselves in a room together she would always find excuses to leave. 

Ken longed for the times when they not only coexisted in the same spaces, but actively sought out each others’ company. He missed his little sister, and knew he had to do something. 

And so, on a Saturday morning when their parents had left to run their errands, Ken decided to confront Mirai. 

Making his way over to their small kitchen, he thought of what he would say to her to convince her everything was okay, to make things go back to normal. He was so consumed with his own thoughts that he didn’t realize he wasn’t alone until the refrigerator door slammed shut. Ken startled, jumping, and staring for the first time in weeks into the eyes of his little sister.

She stood there, holding a small container of meat with a guilty expression on her face.  
  


“Sorry,” she muttered, quickly moving to open the refrigerator and put away her meal. “Sorry, I’ll just--” 

Ken quickly moved to interrupt her, slamming the door of the appliance shut before she could do anything. 

“Mirai,” he said, “you don’t have to be ashamed. Please. Eat.” 

She wouldn’t look up at him, but her hands were trembling. She inhaled sharply, her voice wavering when she spoke. “I c-can’t...I...you…” 

“Shh,” he shushed her, pulling her into his arms as she burst into tears, the container of meat dropping to the floor as she threw her arms around Ken’s lower body. 

“I can’t stop thinking about it,” she sobbed, “the feeling of you falling against me, the horror, thinking I’d killed you,” Ken rubbed her back, trying and failing to soothe her. “And in my nightmares I… I can’t stop, I just keep--keep eating, keep killing you, over, and over, and over--” She was hyperventilating, her breath coming out in ragged gasps.

“Mirai.” Ken’s voice was stern, serious, “You did stop. You were so strong.” 

“If I was strong,” she cried, “if only I _had_ been stronger, then you wouldn’t have been hurt in the first place, you wouldn’t have that scar. I could’ve protected _you_.” 

“But that’s not your job, little Mimi,” Ken soothed, speaking softly into his sister’s ear, “I’m your big brother, it is my duty to protect you.”

“You deserve better,” she countered, pulling away from Ken and crossing her arms in a huff, anger and frustration bleeding into her expression. “You deserve to have a normal sister, a sister who doesn’t dream about _eating you_ . All the teachers at school are right--ghouls _are_ monstrous. _I_ am monstrous.” 

“Hey, hey,” He took her smaller face into his hands, wiping the tears tracking down her cheek away with his finger, “you are the furthest thing from a monster. You only did what you did because I asked you to, I _begged_ you to, and if you hadn’t we would have been caught by the ghoul, or even by those investigators. You saved our lives, Mirai. If anything, I don’t deserve such a strong, brave little sister.” 

“And besides,” He took a step back, quirking his lips into a smile, “that was the first time you’ve used your _kagune_ , ever, right? Pretty impressive for a first attempt,” 

Mirai’s cheeks reddened, remembering the way half of her _kagune_ had hung limp, useless, at her side during the fight with Kobayashi-the-ghoul. 

“It was pathetic,” she muttered under her breath, “I couldn’t even hit him, couldn’t free you,”

“Well,” Ken’s expression became pensive, “then what you need is practice.” 

Mirai’s eyes widened. “Practice? I would destroy the apartment!” She exclaimed. 

“Not here,” Ken replied, his mind already racing with ideas, “and it can’t be somewhere where anyone would see…” His voice trailed off as he became lost in thought. Where could Mirai practice using her _kagune_ without humans, ghouls, or CCG investigators catching her in the act. It would have to be out of the way, big enough that she could use her _kagune_...

The idea struck, and Ken all but tripped over his own feet racing to get Mirai out the door -- nearly forgetting their coats in the process. 

<>

A couple years ago, Hide’s parents had taken him out of school for a year. Hide had been telling Ken about his parents’ fighting for weeks beforehand, and so the two boys were certain that this vacation was some doomed attempt at forced family bonding. He’d assured Ken that he would be doing schoolwork while he was away, that this didn’t mean he would have to be held back a grade. 

Regardless, this had meant that Ken was without his best friend, really his only friend, for most of the second grade. 

Ken was shy, quiet and bookish and by nature, and without Hide’s animated and cheerful presence he withdrew into himself. He would go whole school days without speaking to anyone, burying his nose in his books and his school work and only speaking when called upon by his teachers. 

During recess, he would not play with the other children, preferring to sit inside or under the shade of the trees that littered the school grounds on warmer days, reading. The other children had always thought him strange, but his strangeness had always been brushed to the side, forgotten in the wake of Hide’s boundless energy and charisma. 

But now, without Hide around, Kaneki Ken became an oddity and, as is typical of things that children do not understand, a target for the bullies in his year. 

The first time the class bullies had come up to Ken, he hadn’t even noticed them until they were almost on top of him, so engrossed was he in what he was reading. 

“You’re such a freak, Kaneki,” they would jeer at him, tearing his book out of his hands and throwing it to one another, back and forth, as Ken desperately tried to steal it back. “What a nerd,” They would say, “Can he even speak? Has anyone ever _actually_ heard the freak speak?” 

Telling his teachers had done little good. His bullies were model students, active participants in class and careful to never put a toe out of line where a teacher or adult could see. They saved their mocking smiles and their sneers for when no one was around but Ken. 

One day, after school had ended, Ken could be found running doggedly through the streets of the 14th ward, desperately trying to reclaim his stolen property from the laughing boys who continued to evade him. They led him on a not-so-merry chase, passing storefronts and pedestrians who smiled softly at the sight of “boys being boys”, none attempting to intervene. 

The chase ended when the boys came upon a deserted clearing, through a dilapidated fence and behind an abandoned factory building. The small field was filled with large metal pipes and other construction materials. The site was obviously abandoned, with ivy and other weeds growing plentifully up and around the various metals, woods, and the lone bulldozer off in the corner. So far were they from the rest of the 14th Ward’s population that the sounds of street noise were faint in the distance. 

The three bullies turned to face Ken, who was panting and red in the face from chasing after them. 

“Please,” Ken had managed to get out between heaving gasps, “please just give it back.” He wouldn’t have normally gone through such an effort to reclaim a book, but this was one of the books that his father had bought for him. He treasured each and every book that Reiko gave to him. It was, in a convoluted way, a means for him to stay close to his fathers -- both past and present. 

The bullies had, eventually, gotten bored with their meek target, and had left Ken alone in the clearing. His tormentors must not have paid much attention to where they had left Ken, because day after day for the next year Ken would slip from the school grounds and come back to the abandoned little clearing, nestling himself next to a somewhat-stable pile of metal beams. Other than that first time, that clearing became a place of reliable solitude for Ken, and he never once came across another person there.

When Hide returned from his family’s vacation, when the novelty of mocking fun of Kaneki Ken had worn off with his friend back to defend him, the clearing became a remnant of the past, something he paid little thought to. 

That was, until, today.

“Come on, just a little further,” Ken tossed over his shoulder as he brushed past the rusted chain link fence surrounding the factory’s property. Out of the corner of his eye, he made out Mirai’s skeptical expression as she followed him, slipping through the small gap where the metal links separated, likely having been cut by a thief, perhaps, or by teenagers looking for a place to get up to mischief. 

“Ken, where are we?” She asked, and he smiled.

“This was a place I used to come when I wanted to be alone,” He told her, leading her into the clearing. It had hardly changed in all these years, he marveled. “It’s far enough from the streets, and there aren’t any occupied buildings nearby, I don’t think. This should be a fine place for you to practice.” 

“Practice _what_?” Mirai scoffed, kicking at the dirt with her scuffed trainers, “I don’t even know what I’m doing,” 

“I’m sure all ghouls don’t know what they’re doing, the first time they use their _kagunes_.” Ken reassured her. “Here,” he motioned her over to a pile of rotting lumber, “Try and lift one of these,” 

“Eww,” Mirai scrunched up her nose in disgust, moving closer to the pile as if to smell it before dancing away, “That’s _gross_ , Ken, I don’t wanna touch that!” 

Ken chuckled, glad to see at least a little of his sister’s spirit returning to her.

“Fine,” he returned, moving over to some metal beams strewn across the dusty ground, “what about these?”

Not able to find any fault with his suggestion this time, Mirai moved closer. She stood still for a moment, and then another, a look of deep concentration crossing her face. Nothing happened at first, and Ken worried for a moment, wondering if she even knew how to access her _kagune_. That was something he had no idea if he’d be able to help her with. 

After a minute, and then another, with a _pop_ the Rc cells started forming at the small of her back, multiplying rapidly until they had assumed the shape of four large tentacles. 

They kept growing and growing, only stopping once they towered over Mirai’s form. And though they were shaking, obviously difficult to keep raised judging from the sweat beading at Mirai’s brow, they weren’t falling limp at her side like they had weeks ago. 

“I did it!” She cheered. As she pumped a fist up in the air two of her _kagune_ ’s tentacles moved with her, unconsciously mimicking her actions, and the two of them laughed together. It was strange, Ken mused, that even the sight of her _kakugan_ manifesting in her left eye, distorting her joyous expression, did little to unsettle him now. 

The sight of her ghoulish features reminded him of the nightmares he’d had after the incident, horrible dreams of Mirai stalking him, spearing him with her _kagune_ , her mouth opening and Kobayashi’s crazed laugh spilling out past her lips. Dreams where the fear he’d felt from being at Kobayashi’s mercy mixed and distorted itself until he was certain he was afraid of his little sister. But here, now, in the real world, she was just that -- his little sister. No matter what she looked like. He released a sigh of relief, letting go of tension he hadn’t even known he was holding in his shoulders and chest. 

“Why don’t you practice bringing them out, first,” Ken suggested, and she proceeded to do exactly that. For the next hour or so, while Ken kept a careful eye on the path where they’d entered the clearing, Mirai summoned and banished her _kagune_ over and over again. 

After a few tries, she was able to keep them in the air without any visible signs of stress. Several more tries, and she could summon them while walking, or while talking to Ken. By the time the sun started disappearing over the horizon, she was able to use all four of them to prop up one of the metal beams. Her smile was brilliant, with no trace of the shadows of pain and shame that had plagued her expression just hours ago. 

“Alright,” Ken motioned her closer to him and she dropped the beam she was holding, her Rc cells receding and disappearing almost effortlessly. “We should head home, if we are late to dinner Mother and Father will ask questions.” 

Mirai nodded, tacitly agreeing that their parents did not need to know what they had been doing today. They would only worry. 

All of a sudden Mirai rushed towards Ken without warning, grabbing at his lower body and squeezing him tightly to her. She pushed her face into his stomach, and he could feel her quietly whispered “Thank you,” more than he could hear it. Ken didn’t hesitate to bring his arms up around her. 

“You never need to fear me, Mirai,” he replied softly. “Just as I will _never_ fear you.” 

The two siblings stood like that for several moments more, before releasing each other and turning towards the path that would lead them to the road. 

For just a moment, Ken felt a prickling at the nape of his neck, and out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw movement, thought he saw a flash of blonde -- a shade that would be alarmingly out of place in an abandoned construction site. He turned his head sharply, but there was nothing there but the shadows, growing slowly as the sun set. Taking a moment to center himself and reassure himself that they were still alone, he inhaled deeply. 

“Big brother, what are you waiting for?” Mirai, who had gone on ahead, called back to him. Shaking his head lightly to dispel the lingering worry, he looked one more time. Seeing nothing but the empty clearing, just as it had been all afternoon, he continued onwards towards the street, following after his sister.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wheeew that's my longest chapter ever, 11 pages! oh my goodness! and i still didn't cover half of what i set out to... definitely seeing a theme here. hopefully if you're still here you're enjoying what's happening, since we might be a while till we reach canon (i will reach it though I am determined) 
> 
> anyways, if you're interested, in this chapter i'm picturing these ages: Mirai 11 y/o, Ken 15 y/o. however, i'm trying to keep it vague in case you, like me, don't know at what ages certain children can do certain things lol, so feel free to imagine they are different ages if that works better for you (however if you want to know the ages I'm picturing, I'm going to go back and put ages in the descriptions of previous chapters).
> 
> Thank you again to everyone who left comments, kudos, subscriptions, or even just stopped by and read. you are the reason i've been able to push through writer's block and write a stunning 37 pages so far (the most i have literally written for anything other than papers in college omg). 
> 
> Mandatory disclaimers: I own nothing, I know nothing about japanese culture besides some light googling, I have only watched the anime, this is just a project for fun :) 
> 
> please lmk what you think of this chapter. shit's about to get serious so here's some fluff and light angst. the calm before the storm, one might say **cackles**

After that day in the clearing, it was as though a part of Mirai had shifted. Despite the hours she spent in the classroom subjected to lectures on the malicious nature of her species, despite the nights she was startled awake by nightmares of the alleyway attack, she felt... lighter. With each day that passed, she felt better able to carry the burden of her nature. She was in control of herself, of her ghoulish side, and she was determined to stay that way. 

Ken accompanied her back to the clearing several times, always willing to keep watch for unwitting passers-by in order to ensure his sister’s safety while she practiced. 

And practice she did. 

Within several weeks, Mirai was able to maneuver her _kagune_ in ways she would never have thought possible before. Months later, she found she could alter its shape, pooling all of the Rc cells into one long, whip-like tentacle, or splitting it out into nearly a dozen “arms”. The more she pushed herself, the farther she was able to extend her extra limbs, until she was able to reach across nearly half the length of the clearing. She could propel herself into the air, or she could lift and throw heavy objects with ease. 

An added benefit of all of this practice was increased control of her _kakugan_ , especially in stressful situations. Whereas three months ago she would have to run (read: speed-walk) and hide in the bathroom after a particularly stressful lecture for fear of accidentally exposing herself, now she could pack her belongings at her own leisure, chat with her classmates, do...whatever she wanted to do.

Wasn’t that a novelty. She felt free. 

After a few more months, she started sneaking away to the clearing by herself to practice. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t want Ken there -- if anything the opposite was true! Having him there made her feel safer, more secure. 

But she also noticed the toll that it took on him, constantly being on guard, constantly watching her train and grow in strength. 

She suspected (not that he would ever tell her, she knew that her big brother had a savior complex the size of Tokyo itself) that he was still upset with himself for not being able to protect her that day. She’d seen in the days and weeks after, berating himself when he thought no one else was around. Even now, he always seemed tired and downtrodden in the moments he thought she wasn’t looking, standing guard at the mouth of the clearing. Watching her practice day after day, she reasoned, must be making things worse. 

And so she started making excuses when he asked if she wanted to go train.

“No thanks, big brother,” she would tell him, making sure to keep her words playful, her eyes wide and innocent, “I’m hanging out with Daichi today,” or, “I would, but I told Mama I’d run to the market for her. Another time!” 

And on days like this one, she would carefully sneak away while her brother was busy with schoolwork or distracted by Hide. 

She made her way to the clearing almost on autopilot, the route so ingrained in her mind that she barely spared a thought to where her feet were taking her. She sang along to her latest favorite song in her head as she rounded corner after corner, waving hello to the owner of their family’s favorite local bookstore as she passed by. 

Mirai weaved her way through the crowds on the main streets, past pointing tourists and bemused residents of the area familiar with her antics, reaching the less populated part of the 14th Ward in good time. She ducked through the familiar hole in the chain-link fence. 

The sky was a brilliant blue overhead and the sight of it, the distant sounds of birdsong signaling the oncoming spring, put a smile on her face and made joy bubble up in her gut. 

She skipped into the clearing, so wrapped up in her own head that she didn’t notice the figure leaning lazily against the broken down bulldozer occupying the clearing’s corner until she was only a few feet away, her _kagune_ casually withdrawn and extended behind her. 

Mirai went from carefree to alert in a heartbeat, freezing with her eyes wide. It almost didn’t register for a moment that she’d been so completely caught.

Exposed.

She had exposed herself, she had done what her father and mother had warned her not to do over and over again, since before she even knew what half the words they were saying meant. She’d broken the most important rule, and now…

She swayed, a ringing in her ears making known the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. 

Not knowing what to do, but knowing she had to do something, she immediately went on the offensive. Her _kagune_ arched behind her, growing taller and curving menacingly in a way that she had practiced on rainy days, observing herself in the reflections of puddles to try and learn how to appear the most intimidating. 

Mirai’s eyes narrowed and her singular _kakugan_ flared. The appearance of her _kakugan_ seemed to take the stranger off guard, though he hadn’t seemed surprised at the other of her ghoulish features. 

The man, _boy_ , she realized as they stood opposite each other and she took in his more youthful features hidden behind the thick rims of his glasses, raised his hands in a placating gesture. He then proceeded to, to her great surprise, unleash a _kagune_ of his own. 

“Relax, kid, I’m not gonna hurt you,” he drawled, pushing off from the bulldozer and coming to stand squarely in front of her. His _bikaku kagune_ lashed back and forth before wrapped around his left leg. 

“Who are you?” Mirai bit out, her _kagune_ still fashioned into four sharp points poised to strike, “What do you want?” 

The boy spread his arms, looking around as if marveling at the space, “This is public property, right? Who says I have to want anything?” he smirked, tone sarcastic. After a moment, however, his smile dropped. He shrugged his hands into his pockets and sighed. “I’ve been watching you for a while, you and your human...friend. Been wanting to speak to you, but I had to wait to be sure I’d catch you alone. Wouldn’t do to reveal myself to a human.” He raised a questioning eyebrow towards her, spitting out the word _human_ with thinly veiled disgust and heavily implying a demand to explain herself. 

“If you’ve been watching us, then you know that my _brother_ ,” she stressed their relationship, her eyes hard, “is no danger to me, he knows what I am and he doesn’t care, he never has. The only one who’s in any danger is anyone who tries to hurt him.” Her eyes narrowed into slits at that, but the boy didn’t seem to take issue with her obvious threat. 

If anything, he seemed even more caught off guard. “Your brother? But he’s human. How is that possible?” 

“Not that it’s any of your business, but he’s my half brother.” She responded. Reasonably assured that this boy wasn’t going to attack her in the immediate future she withdrew her _kagune_ and relaxed out of her battle stance, wanting to conserve her strength in case she needed to fight or flee. 

The boy was actually gaping at her now, his mouth hanging open. Despite the tension of the situation, the silliness of the expression caused Mirai to giggle. “Careful or your face’ll get stuck that way,” she joked and the boy straightened up, renewing his expression of careful disinterest and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Hmph,” he huffed to himself, his eyes boring into her with such an intensity that she nearly squirmed with discomfort, “Never knew that was possible, for a human and a ghoul to have a kid.” 

“Well, it is...” her voice trailed off and she looked down, discomfited by his staring. She scuffed her feet on the ground, not really sure what else to say to this strange ghoul boy, the first harmless ghoul that she had met other than her father. 

Now that she was pretty sure he wasn’t there to fight her or try to eat her, she had so many questions that she wanted to ask this complete stranger. How did he keep the secret of his nature from his friends? What was his family like? Was he friends with other ghouls? 

But she had absolutely no idea where to begin, _how_ to begin. 

“Okay, sure, why not,” he was almost muttering to himself, loud enough that she could still hear him. “Well, you should still be careful. That’s why I wanted to speak with you in the first place, to warn you. You’re too open with him, even if he is your brother. Showing him this side of yourself, reminding him of it every day, you’re giving him everything he needs to destroy you.”

He sighed, turning away from her and raking a hand through his messy hair. “I know you don’t know me but...I just thought someone ought to warn you, before it’s too late.” 

“You’re wrong,” Mirai responded archly, her anger flaring. The audacity of this boy -- to insinuate that Ken, her loyal, protective, kindhearted brother would do anything to betray her -- stirred her ire.

“You don’t know Ken. He’s my family. He would never hurt me.”

The boy’s gaze darkened, “Family can hurt you the most, little girl, whether they mean it or not.” 

He didn’t seem to be talking about her and Ken anymore. 

“You’re wrong,” Mirai repeats, steadfast, calm.

The boy sighed, his face lightening and his expression of mild disdain reappeared. “Well, can’t say I didn’t try. Whatever. Good luck kid,” he turned, seemingly dismissing her in an instant and immediately Mirai sprang forward. 

“Wait!” She cried, her arm outstretched. “You can’t just leave…”

He turns back to her, a singular eyebrow raised as if daring her to explain exactly what is stopping him from leaving. 

“I… I just…” Mirai sputtered, fumbling for something to say, some reason to keep this mysterious ghoul boy around just a moment longer so she could _think_. “What’s your name?” 

For a moment, the boy seemed conflicted. However, after a moment he relented, exhaling. 

“The name’s Nishiki. Nishio Nishiki.” 

“Kuromoto Mirai,” she responded, holding a hand out to shake which Nishiki, reluctantly and after several moments of silence and staring, accepted. 

What followed could easily be described as an interrogation, and even that might have been an understatement. 

Mirai kept Nishiki in the clearing for hours, throwing question after question at him, rapid-fire. 

Nishiki, to his credit, seemed more or less bemused by Mirai’s exuberance, and though he often responded with sneers or snark, there were few questions he did not answer for the younger girl. 

He told her that he lived in a small house not far from the clearing, located at the edge of the 20th Ward where the two districts met. He spoke of learning to use his _kagune_ , of meeting other ghouls who were violent, territorial. He told her about how he attended school and was in the same year as her brother, about how he dreamed of going to university, about how he wasn’t sure what he would study once he got there.

When asked about his family, however, he immediately clammed up and Mirai, sensing a return of his dark mood from earlier, swiftly changed the subject.

The sun had already begun setting before the two parted ways. They exchanged neither telephone numbers nor email addresses -- Nishiki didn’t offer and Mirai didn’t want to press him even more than she already had this afternoon -- but as they parted, Nishiki rested a hand on her shoulder, meeting her eyes. His gaze was surprisingly soft. 

“I’ll see you around, kid,” he told her, continuing with a sigh, “Just, you know, you gotta be more careful. You can’t run around Tokyo showing your _kagune_ out in the open, making friends with every ghoul you meet. They’re not all as sweet as I am,” he warned. 

Mirai nodded along eagerly. A part of her already knew this, how could she not after being so brutally attacked by Kobayashi in that alleyway so recently. However another part of her, the younger, more innocent part, balked at the warning. 

She hadn’t realized before meeting Nishiki how _desperately_ alone she had felt sometimes. She had her brother, and her parents, but that was it. No one else, not even Daichi, truly knew who she was. There was no one else she could talk to about what it was like to not only be a ghoul, but to be a _teenage girl_ as well. 

Not that she could talk to Nishiki about girl stuff. But the ghoul stuff, that seemed to be fair game. 

He then proceeded to muss her hair, causing her to exclaim loudly and duck out of the way. 

“Hey!”

Nishiki just chuckled at her in response.

“See ya round, Midget,” he saluted her lazily before turning and stalking off in the opposite direction, completely bypassing the opening in the chain link fence around the way, instead choosing to use his _kagune_ to _propel him through the second story window of the nearest building_. 

Mirai stood, gaping at his dramatic exit, before what he’d said registered. “Hey! My _name_ is _Mirai_!” she shouted after him, in vain, before stomping her way back home. She wasn’t that much shorter than him, she grumbled to herself, though she couldn’t keep the smile from her face. 

As she lay in her bed that night, her legs aching from standing all day, she still smiled thinking about the new friend she’d made. 

<>

Mirai woke a week later, rising before her alarm went off and immediately intent on going to the clearing again. Her family immediately noticed her excitement, and the way it contrasted with the lazy Sunday morning energy of the rest of the house.

“What’s got you all worked up, little goose,” her mother called over from where she sat at the kitchen table, slowly eating her breakfast. Her father sat beside her, paging through the newspaper, though he had looked up and smiled at Mirai’s entrance.

Mirai could barely keep herself from dancing to the refrigerator, and she shrugged off her parents’ question glances. 

“Nothing!” she said, a little too quickly, “Just...excited to see Daichi today.” 

“Really?” Her brother called over as he entered the room as well, brushing past Mirai preparing her meal to reach a box of cereal, “Didn’t you spend all day with him yesterday?” 

Mirai winced, having forgotten the lie that she’d given Ken when he’d caught her coming home after dark the night before. He had agreed not to tell their parents what time she had returned, thankfully, but she knew now that she had to tread carefully. 

She had been spending more and more time in the clearing, either practicing with her _kagune_ or, more recently, just doing her schoolwork or drawing in her sketchbook. Each time she went, she was hopeful that she would see Nishiki again, since she didn’t know how else to find him. 

So far, she had yet to see the blond-haired boy a second time. She worried that she would forget what he looked like, so she’d taken to sketching what she remembered of him when she could. This had led to an embarrassing encounter with Daichi, who had spotted Nishiki’s likeness as she’d been paging through her sketchbook in the school’s courtyard, and had asked if she had a secret boyfriend.

Mirai had never blushed so hard before in her life. 

“No!” She replied, mind racing to try and come up with a reasonable explanation, “We just, uh, couldn’t finish the newest _Demonic Brotherhood_ yesterday.”

Ken seemed to accept her response, and she breathed a sigh of relief when he turned away from her. 

“Psh, that manga,” her father tutted from where he sat at the kitchen table, not looking away from his newspaper, “portraying ghouls as gangsters and thugs. Of course, it’s written by a human, so it’s difficult to expect anything else. I don’t know how you can read that garbage, Mirai.” 

Mirai huffed, nearly distracted from her objective for the day she crossed her arms ready to fight to defend _Demonic Brotherhood_. Her mother’s tinkling laugh, however, snapped her out of her growing frustration and reminded her that she had other things to do today. 

“Maybe the story just hits a little too close to home, dear,” she asked lightly, her tone joking, and her father scoffed, looking over at her. The two then proceeded to spend an extremely long moment staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. 

Mirai turned to her brother, loudly pretending to vomit all over the floor, and her brother chuckled back at her.

Her parents laughed loudly at her antics as they broke away from each other, her father returning to his paper and her mother coming over to stand by her.

“Mirai, love, please be back before sunset tonight. It is a school night, after all.” She quirked a brow and her lips at the same time as she looked down at her daughter, smiling that half smile that always put a matching one on Mirai’s face, ever since she was little. “And if you wouldn’t mind picking up a few things for me, on your way home, your father and I will be going into work today.”

Her mother passed her a grocery list and several Yen bills as Mirai nodded her assent. Ken, however, did not so easily accept their mother’s statement.

“What do you mean, you’re _both_ working today?” He came over, his face lined with concern. “Mother, you haven’t had a weekend off in--” he sputtered, and their mother interrupted him, resting a hand on his shoulder. 

“Let it be, Ken,” she soothed, her voice as gentle as ever, “We all do what we must for the ones we love,” 

Ken’s eyes narrowed. “This is for Aunt Aiya again, isn’t it? Didn’t she just come by a few weeks ago? You can’t keep working yourself to the bone for her!” 

Their mother turned away from her brother, busying herself fussing with the dishes that filled their kitchen sink. “She’s family, Ken,” she scolded lightly, “and she is my younger sister. If she needs help, then it is my responsibility to help her. Would you not do the same for Mirai?” 

Mirai snorted at the comparison. Everyone present knew that she was _nothing_ like their aunt. 

Ken looked like he wanted to protest further, but their father stood and joined his wife at the sink, interjecting before their angry son could get another word out. 

“And besides, with my income alongside your mother’s, we’ll have more than enough for Aiya without either of us working ourselves to death.” 

Their mother shot him a grateful look, and Mirai busied herself tying her shoes. This had been an ongoing argument between Ken and their parents for many months now, and it had everything to do with the way Aunt Aiya treated their family like her own indentured servants. 

Every few weeks, she would swan into their lives, throwing thinly veiled insults at the size of their family’s home or at the height and appearance of her and her brother. She would demand money from their mother, often because she and her good-for-nothing husband seemed to “misplace” or “mistakenly spend” their funds, and then disappear completely. It was the only reason she ever came by, but their mother was blind to it, so deeply did she feel responsible for her sister. 

Ken huffed but did not argue, and it was to the sounds of lighthearted chatter from her family that Mirai made her departure. 

She made her way to the clearing in good time and, to her disappointment, it was entirely empty. Just as it had been every other time she had visited. 

After loitering around for a while, throwing a few steel beams back and forth dejectedly with her _kagune_ in an effort to entertain herself, Mirai decided to make her exit. She wound her way through the 14th ward. Every now and then she would pass members of her class, either hanging out in groups or wandering around alone running errands for their parents. 

The 14th ward, while the sun shone in the sky on Saturdays and Sundays, was a veritable playground for the youth of Tokyo. For a while last year things had been more tense, as the incidence of crime had increased and Doves had patrolled the streets. But slowly, and with the apprehension of several criminals ghoul and human alike, the tension on the streets of the 14th Ward eased and parents released their children from constant supervision. 

She stopped at the park near the grocery store, claiming one of the benches and watching as senior citizens fed crumbs of bread to the brave birds who wandered up to them. A couple sat together on a bench opposite her, cuddled up against each other and speaking silently. There was a look in their eyes, something about the softness of their gazes, that Mirai noticed as she watched them. It sparked a feeling in her gut that she couldn’t identify, and she nervously looked away. 

Mirai rested in the park for longer than she ought to, watching the residents of the 14th Ward living their lives. She saw teenagers smoking cigarettes behind bushes, families walking their small children and even smaller dogs. 

The quiet energy of the city filled her up and soothed the part of her that always felt horribly lonely. In moments like this one the burden of hiding, lying, and deceiving that she carried did not feel quite so heavy. 

It was late into the afternoon when Mirai realized she still had errands to run, and she quickly made her way to the grocery store. 

After collecting her mother’s groceries (and a few small candies for herself with the extra Yen, of course), she crossed the street, bag in hand, and walked into Tobe Books. 

She had been coming to this bookstore since before she could walk, with her brother dragging their parents by the arm, desperate to look at their stock anytime their family visited even remotely nearby. 

The owners were a kindly elderly couple, Tobe Ishi and her husband, Kano. Today only Ishi was present, and she smiled at Mirai as she entered. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, little one,” she called over, and Mirai moved towards her, shrugging as she went.

“I know, school has been very busy recently,” Mirai lied through her teeth with a half-smile, “I’ll definitely be coming ‘round more often over the winter break,” 

“See that you do,” Ishi responded, slowly rounding the table and patting Mirai on the head. She tolerated it with grace, ducking her head to hide her grimace. 

Mirai spent a good while browsing the shelves, not particularly looking for anything but instead simply relaxing in the comforting, familiar atmosphere of the shop. Ishi offered to make her a coffee which she refused politely. Her father did not yet allow her to drink coffee outside of the house, claiming that it was not something human children did at her age. Ishi didn’t seem to know that, but Mirai suspected that was more due to the woman’s older age than anything else. There were still a few years yet before Mirai would be permitted to drink anything other than the blood broth her father prepared for her, which she carefully (and discretely, always) toted around in a thermos.

When the weight of the groceries in her hand grew heavier and she felt the slight ache in her legs from her day of wandering around, Mirai waved goodbye to Ishi and left the bookstore. 

“Tell your brother to stop by sometime!” Ishi called out to her as she exited, “We have the new Yamamoto book he was asking about, just came in!” 

Stepping out onto the sidewalk, Mirai immediately noticed a crowd gathering on the other side of the road. They were looking and pointing at something, though from this distance she could not see at what. Curious, she crossed the street and moved closer, standing on the tips of her toes to try and see what had captured the attention of so many. 

And then she caught the unmistakable white. 

Investigators. Doves

Cold washed down the back of her neck and her stomach suddenly felt as if she was plummeting from a great height even as she maintained her position. The crowd shifted just enough so that Mirai was still hidden from the investigators' sight even as she watched them tying up an unconscious woman who lay face-down on the ground. One of the investigators rose from her side, an empty syringe in his hand. They spoke quietly to each other, and Mirai realized with horror what she was witnessing. 

The Doves weren’t just going to kill this ghoul. They were capturing her, keeping her alive and taking her somewhere to do who knows what. She’d had no idea that ghouls had any more to fear from the Doves than death, and her hands trembled. 

“Good riddance,” she heard from beside her, and she startled at the familiar voice. Turning slightly, she saw Ishi had come to stand next to her. The older woman’s eyes were narrowed, trained on the investigators and their quarry with a frightening intensity. “The sooner we can be rid of those monsters completely, the better,” she said with finality. 

Mirai nodded along distantly, desperately trying to fight for control of her body. Her limbs felt so light that she thought she might just float away with the wind.

Ishi wasn’t really looking at her, so with a murmured farewell that she just managed to get out Mirai oh so slowly moved away. She noticed a few adults towards the edge of the crowd grow tired of the spectacle and peel away, and she slowly went to follow them, trailing just close enough behind them as if to pretend that these strangers were her parents. It was a technique that she had seen on a television show. 

And now it was her life, too. 

She carefully controlled her pace until she could no longer hear the murmurs of the crowds, and even for a few minutes after that. It was only after she’d turned several corners that she broke out into a run, tears budding at her eyes as she desperately raced home. 

Mirai quickly scaled the steps up to her apartment, fumbling with the key. She burst into the room, tears running down her face and the bag of groceries slipping from her hand, to the bemusement and then concern of her mother.

“Mirai?” her mother asked, worry in her voice, “What happened?” 

Not able to fully vocalize the horror she felt at watching some young girl, someone just like her, tied up on the side of the road and gawked at by pedestrians, she instead threw her arms around her mother, buried her face in the taller woman’s stomach, and sobbed. 

Her mother rubbed at her back, whispering to her in soft tones, and the two sunk to the floor. They remained there, mother curled protectively around daughter, until Mirai calmed enough to tell her mother some of what she saw. Her mother’s eyes darkened as she spoke, but just as she was about to respond to her daughter, a loud knock sounded at their front door. 

Mirai flinched at the loud noise, but her mother seemed unfazed. She quickly moved to open the door, only to reveal her younger sister standing on the other side. Aiya’s nose was upturned and her hands were on her hips as she tapped her foot impatiently. 

“Ah, Hina, finally,” Aiya brushed past her sister and strode into the apartment without being invited in. “I need you to come with me.” Aiya looked down at where Mirai still sat on the floor, tear tracks on her face and eyes red, before turning away, dismissing her niece without a comment. “Shoko, that idiot, spent what I’d been saving when my back was turned, and the bank has been giving me trouble with that note you gave me. I need you to come with me, sort this out.” 

Her mother tried to respond in the negative, looking back at Mirai, torn knowing that her daughter and her sister both needed her. 

Aiya had already made her way back out into the hallway, evidently ready to depart. She looked back, as if startled that her sister had not immediately snapped to attention, “Well? Are you coming?” Her eyes widened dramatically and she bit at her lip. “Please, sissy, I need your help!” 

After a moment of hesitation, Hina turned to Mirai, lowered herself down and grasped her tightly in an embrace. 

“I will be back in just a moment, little goose,” she murmured to Mirai who was still hiccoughing little hitching sobs, “You are safe, you are home, and you are loved. You have nothing to fear my beautiful, brave girl.” She kissed Mirai’s brow, squeezed her tightly one more time, and then turned to follow her sister out into the rapidly approaching evening. 

Sitting on the floor, rubbing at her eyes, that awful feeling in the pit of Mirai’s stomach only grew. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha mirai has a cruuuuuuuush oOoOoO (hopefully yall noticed and i wasn't too subtle lmao) 
> 
> you'll notice i named Kaneki's mother and i waited FOUR CHAPTERS to get around to it. I have no excuses.
> 
> also trying to walk this balance of characters being OOC because of how things have changed. that manifests in Hina (Kaneki's mother) being not abusive (which i don't think even ended up included in the anime?) and Kaneki being a little more assertive/protective. If you can't tell, i love canon divergence but writing it makes me super nervous so lmk what you think (but be gentle lol)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy moly -- this story is currently at 53 pages?? :O yet again setting a new personal record, this is crazy! 
> 
> thank you again to everyone who read, left kudos, commented, everything, i'm so happy that y'all are enjoying this story! 
> 
> this chap took a while to write, work and writers block and pandemic burnout really were tag teaming me, *sigh* chapter updates will probably continue to be slow and (more or less?) steady, just writing as I feel inspired to
> 
> also warning, there is violence in this chapter which can be (though that was not my intention) read as lightly implied sexual assault. even tho nothing of that sort is actually described, since i can't control how people will read my words and what they will take away from them, i will leave this warning here and will be updating the tags to reflect this
> 
> ok that's it! hope you enjoy :) 
> 
> ages: Mirai: 10 y/o, Ken: 14 y/o -> Mirai: 11 y/o, Ken: 15 y/o

_Three Weeks Post-Incident_

Kaneki Ken hadn’t slept through the night in weeks. 

Every night he would tumble into variations upon the same nightmare, over and over again. Almost like clockwork, he would startle awake before dawn choking back screams of terror so as not to disturb his family members. 

Every night he would be unable to fall back asleep, the afterimages of his nightmares playing behind closed eyelids. He would instead lie awake, staring at his ceiling until the sun had risen. 

As he observed his reflection in the mirror this morning, he noted the blue tone of the skin beneath his eyes and sighed. 

Things had, in fact, gotten better once he’d started taking Mirai out to the clearing to practice with her _kagune_. Not only had she started talking to him again, but watching her fool around with her extra limbs helped remind his subconscious that she was not a threat to him. 

For as much as he desperately tried to instruct his mind not to be afraid, in the two weeks following the incident he had dreamed every night of Mirai tearing into his flesh. 

Thankfully, now the dreams had changed. However they had not changed enough to finally grant Ken a full night’s sleep. 

Instead of Mirai attacking him, in this new nightmarish variation she instead played the role of hero, dutifully stepping in between Ken and an approaching Kobayashi. Every night she would fight to protect Ken, while her brother cowered behind her.

Every night he would watch Kobayashi slay his sister, and would wake just as the feral ghoul leapt towards him, latching onto Ken’s flesh with his teeth.

In the moments just after waking, the scarring where his sister had bit him would ache fiercely. A reminder of the danger that lurked around every corner. A reminder of his inability to do anything about said danger. 

This morning, like all other mornings, Ken scrubbed at his face furiously in the bathroom, desperately trying to force his body and mind awake. 

He picked at a light breakfast while his family moved around him. He studiously ignored the concerned glances he knew his parents were shooting him. 

The two siblings walked to school same as always, with Ken dropping Mirai off at the elementary school before making his way to his own campus a few minutes walk away. Where the streets were usually filled with people commuting to work and school, this morning the area was eerily quiet. What few pedestrians there were kept their heads down and their chatter to a minimum. 

As he was walking, out of the corner of his eye Ken noticed a shadow. He turned his head slightly and spotted a hooded figure walking just behind him on the other side of the street. As Ken continued walking, as he took a left and then a right turn, the hooded figure mirrored his steps. 

Ken sped up his pace, his breath quickening. 

_Is it the investigators_ , he thought to himself as he clutched the straps of his backpack tighter, _they saw me, they saw Mirai_ , _they’re coming after us_. 

A vicious red _kakugan_ flared in his mind’s eye, and his thoughts took a turn as he increased his pace further.

_Or did Kobayashi make it out alive? Is he coming after us, after the ones who got away…_

He was breathing harshly now, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to confirm that yes, the hooded figure was still walking a few paces behind him, their head down and their hands tucked into pockets. 

Ken’s fear reached a fevered pitch and he began to run, dipping and dodging others on the sidewalk. The gates of his school’s campus appeared in view, and he darted up to them, wrenching open the wrought iron door and nearly throwing himself to safety. 

A few of the students milling around the courtyard glanced at him, murmuring at his odd behavior, but he paid them no mind. Instead he hid behind the solid wall, peeking around the corner to spot his pursuer. 

Slowly they approached, walking up almost level with the school and from the angle he had positioned himself could see…

Under the hood was the face of a stranger. 

Not the investigators from the alleyway. Definitely not the face from his nightmares. 

Just a random, middle-aged Japanese woman with a nose ring and pink bangs peeking out from the hood of her sweatshirt, walking with a slouch in her step. 

Ken turned, resting his back against stone bricks and slumped down to the ground. He heaved out breath after breath, unable to slow his inhalations, and distantly heard a ringing in his ears. His hands trembled where they rested on his knees. He felt his eyes water and stubbornly tried to blink back tears. 

After a moment, and then another, when he was finally sure he was not about to start crying in his school’s courtyard, he hefted himself to a standing position. The rest of his classmates had already gone inside, and he distantly heard the chime of the school’s bell. 

He couldn’t bring himself to care much that he was late. 

A sudden, almost blinding swell of rage and frustration rose within him, overwhelming him. He had never before experienced such strong, furious hate. Hate for the figures that stalked him day and night, investigators and ghouls alike. Hate for his own inability to do anything but run. Hate for the fear that kept him from sleep, that kept him exhausted and incapacitated, that always seemed to paralyze him when push came to shove. 

Shy, bookish Kaneki Ken had never before had reason to hate anything like he despised himself in this moment. 

A small scream escaped his lips, and in a flash he had spun around and punched at the iron gate he’d just entered through moments before. 

Blinding pain shocked through his system, and his vision nearly whited out. He let out a started yelp and immediately clutched his hand to his chest. Confused at what had come over him, and immediately self conscious, he turned without a second thought and sprinted towards the school building. 

_Cold water_ , he thought as his hand throbbed, _I need cold water_ , as he made a bee-line for the restroom. 

He wrapped his knuckles with toilet paper as best he could, and proceeded to hide his injured hand in his pockets all day. Sitting in class, listening to Hide chatter animatedly during their lunch hour, he slowly and determinedly put his uncharacteristic fit out of his mind for good. 

By the end of the day, he barely paid a thought to the events of that morning, pushing his way past the same gate through which he’d entered that morning. 

Failing to notice how the metal was now warped by a decidedly fist-like impression.

<>

_Six Months Post-Incident_

As the spring school term progressed, Ken withdrew into himself more and more. 

For every text of Hide’s that he answered, two more went ignored. He rarely left his bedroom except for school and meals, swiftly returning to it once his obligation to his family was completed. And he found it harder to speak with Mirai, unable to match her increasing enthusiasm as she became more comfortable with her own nature. 

His sleep, while no longer constantly plagued with nightmares, was still restless. Unable to fall asleep, Ken would spend hours most nights staring up at his ceiling, replaying his recollections of the night of the alleyway in his mind. Though the details were fading day by day, dulled by the passage of time, the constant replay had burned a majority of the memory into Ken’s mind. Permanently.

Outside of the apartment, on the few occasions when he could not avoid leaving the house, he followed his route to and from his destination with a manic determination. Constantly looking over his shoulder, he couldn’t help but brace himself every time he rounded a corner, every time he passed someone walking in the opposite direction, every time he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. 

When he wasn’t fearful, he would instead experience disorientating and strangely strong bouts of rage.

At first the fits would come after he spent an afternoon watching Mirai train, or when he happened to read about someone acting particularly heroically in the news. He couldn’t help but compare his own weakness to the strengths of others. 

However as he became more obsessed with going over the details of his self-proclaimed failure, as his interest in reading and most other things waned, he found himself more irritable more often. When the grocers didn’t have his mother’s daikon, he had slammed his fist down on the counter and it had cracked beneath his hand. He’d dropped a carton of milk onto the floor, spilling the white liquid everywhere, and his scream had prompted the neighbors to knock with their concern. 

He was able to convince them not to tell his parents, who were at work at the time, but it was a near thing. 

Ken tried to keep his foul mood from his family, not wanting to burden them. As his moods became more volatile, as he found himself angry more often than not, he sequestered himself away. It didn’t help that Hide had been whisked away for the summer vacation by his bickering parents. Without his cheerful friend around, the rest of the world seemed to move along leaving Ken stewing in its wake. 

By the middle of the summer, he had beaten the steel panes around his bedroom window to the point where they had become misshapen, and his walls were littered with knuckle-shaped indentations. 

His fists and the rest of his limbs, strangely, had not suffered overmuch, but occupied as he was with his anxieties and anger, his surprising resistance to injury went unnoticed. 

Ken knew he could not continue on like this forever, that something would have to give eventually. 

And give it did, though decidedly not in the way he would have expected. 

It was on a cool Saturday night that Reiko confronted him, walking into Ken’s bedroom when his knock went unanswered. His mother and sister were away for some reason or other, and he had assumed his nightly post stewing in misery upon his bed. 

That is, until he was interrupted. 

“Ken, we must talk,” Reiko immediately dispensed with pleasantries or excuses as his step-son shot up from where he lay, startled and sputtering at the intrusion. “You are not yourself, and this has gone on for long enough. What is wrong?” 

Ken only barely kept himself from pouting, feeling childish as he crossed his arms and laid back down, turning his back to Reiko in a clear dismissal. 

“We have nothing to talk about,” the boy murmured to his wall. 

After a moment, he felt the bed give underneath him as Reiko came to sit beside him. 

“You’re always hiding away, you barely eat, you never play with MIrai anymore,” Reiko listed out softly, “we have all noticed. The question is not _if_ something is amiss, but _what_. You don’t have to hide, Ken. Not from your family,” 

Ken could feel tears budding in his eyes and he stubbornly pressed his lids together, trying to keep the wetness from spilling. 

Moments later, the dams broke and his body was wracked with sobs, his back bowing as he curled in on himself. How could his family not have noticed, he was doing such a poor job at hiding from them. The more desperately he tried not to be the one who needed protection, the weaker he seemed to become. 

He distantly felt hands come to rest on his side, and Reiko sat in silence as he continued to sob. All at once, he felt the horror of the night in the alleyway, the fear of walking around the 14th Ward waiting for a ghoul to jump out at him, the shame of watching his little sister impaled on a _kagune_ and being unable to stop it, unable to ease her pain. The emotion was unlike anything he’d ever experienced, so completely did it tear down all of his hastily-constructed walls leaving him bare as a newborn babe. 

After what felt like hours, his sobs turned to whimpers, which turned to hiccups. Through it all, Reiko remained a steady presence behind him, with the gentle pressure applied to Ken’s back the only sign that he had remained.

When he had gained some control over himself, Ken stilled. Part of him still did not want to turn to his father, to expose himself fully and completely. But another part of him, the part that desperately sought comfort, won out. 

He turned and, lightning-quick, he buried himself in Reiko’s arms. The man’s arms came up around him, and they sat there for a moment in silence. 

“I hadn’t realized your ordeal still weighed on you so,” Reiko murmured, and Ken just sniffled in response, “and that is my mistake, for not noticing.” 

“Every night I see it,” Ken whispered, “every night I feel so weak, all over again. And every day, every time I step outside I think… I don’t want to be a casualty in this war between humans and ghouls!” His voice rose into a wail, “I can’t defend myself, I can’t protect Mirai, what good am I?” 

There was silence for a moment. 

“Well why didn’t you just say so?”   
  


Ken stilled.

He processed what Reiko had said, and drew back so he could look his stepfather in the face. His eyes were red and he wiped at his nose, which was stuffed up from crying. He felt a moment of embarrassment. He had just finished his first term of grade nine, for heaven’s sake, and here he was crying like a child in his father’s arms. But that embarrassment was quickly replaced by surprise. 

“Wh...wh-what do you mean?” 

“Well, if you want to learn to defend yourself, of course I will teach you,” Reiko responded, cool as a cucumber as if he hadn’t just assented to teaching his son how to fight.

Ken sat there, tangled in his blankets, stunned. He had known for a while that Reiko had not always been a mild-mannered morgue attendant. Though Reiko had never told his children outright about his past, the two had gathered hints and throwaway comments into a pretty clear picture. 

They were reasonably assured that their father had, before his injury and before meeting their mother, been involved with a number of shady characters, running with one of the many ghoul organizations in Tokyo. However these days, it was hard to believe that Kuromoto Reiko had ever posed a threat to anyone, the remnants of his previous life only evident in his quick reflexes and his above-average build and bulk. 

“I--,” Ken found himself lost for words for a minute, his mouth hanging open as he seriously considered what Reiko had just offered him. 

Did he truly want to learn how to fight? 

The Ken from before would have immediately and wholeheartedly answered no. He would have been content to leave the adventuring, and the danger that followed, to the characters in his books.

But the Ken of today felt miles away from the innocent, naive boy he once was. 

He knew now that there were real dangers all around him, that he was not safe even in his own neighborhood, even on the streets that he had grown up walking. And he knew that he could no longer be content to just bury his nose in the written word, leaving it up to his family to manage the dangers of the outside world. 

Ken steeled himself, straightened up and awkwardly sunk into a bow from where he sat opposite Reiko. 

“Please,” he begged, “teach me.” 

<>

The remainder of the summer vacation was spent training. 

And it was harder than Ken ever could have imagined. 

They began the day after Ken had asked to be taught with Reiko nudging the boy awake at five in the morning. 

“We begin today,” Reiko had said curtly and promptly departed, leaving a dazed Ken to stumble around his room. 

Reiko brought them to a normal-looking storefront a quick bus ride away from their apartment. They arrived just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, walking up to the front entrance where Reiko withdrew a key from his pocket. 

“The shop belongs to a friend of mine,” Reiko added in response to Ken’s vaguely questioning look, to which the younger boy could only nod as he blearily rubbed at his eyes, following Reiko almost in a daze. 

Down some stairs they went, walking through a regular-looking basement and passing through a dilapidated door. After descending some more stairs and walking a bit more, Ken was startled awake by the feeling of a cool breeze winding through his hair. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he felt his jaw begin to drop. 

Somehow they had arrived in a gigantic, underground cavern, complete with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. 

“Wh--,” Ken started, but he was interrupted by the feeling of something soft hitting his midsection. He looked down to see...a mat? 

He looked up to spot Reiko unfurling a similar mat, spreading it out and seating himself cross-legged upon the ground. Ken scrambled to do the same. Without prompting, Reiko seemed to begin meditating and, not knowing what to do, Ken closed his eyes, mimicking Reiko’s posture. 

They stayed there for what felt like hours. By the time Reiko spoke, breaking the silence, Ken was fidgeting, uncomfortable in his position, the ground hard and unforgiving beneath him. 

“Meditation is one of the things I will teach you. It is crucial you learn how to control your mind and your emotions, for they will only do you a disservice should you ever find yourself needing to defend yourself,” said Reiko, his eyes still closed. 

Ken sputtered, defensive though he barely knew why, but before he could get a retort out Reiko held up a hand, effectively startling him. 

“You may believe your emotions, your anger more specifically, to be more help than harm. That is a common misconception, for it is when we are at our angriest that we are at our most vulnerable, in battle. Anger clouds the mind, dulls the senses, tunnels your vision,” as he spoke, he opened his eyes and unfolded himself from his seat, Ken mirroring him all the while. The two stood opposite each other. 

Ken’s initial anger had faded, and his stepfather’s words were finally processing. He thought back to his “fits”, as he’d come to think of them. He would, more often than not, not entirely remember them in the aftermath, but what he could recall matched Reiko’s description exactly. He didn’t remember thoughts, didn’t remember planning actions, just acting without regard for the consequence. 

Inhaling deeply, and exhaling out, Ken nodded, trying to center himself in a way he had been unable to for months previously. 

Reiko continued, reinforcing that they were there to teach Ken what he needed to know to _defend_ himself, not how to attack others or start fights, and that if Ken were to use his teachings to do just that, then their lessons would promptly end. This condition Ken accepted easily. 

“Not to mention, you’d be in a world of trouble with both your mother and I.” Reiko winked slyly at that, and Ken gulped. They had both agreed not to tell Hina or Mirai about this extracurricular activity, knowing that his mother especially would only worry. Ken’s gut clenched with guilt for a moment, thinking about how he was keeping Mirai’s training a secret from Reiko, feeling for an instant the weight of the secrets he was now carrying. 

Shaking his head to dislodge those thoughts, the two got on with their lesson. 

They began with conditioning. Reiko made Ken run more than he ever had in his life, and then perform exercises that worked different muscle groups. Reiko then walked him through a series of _kata_ s _._

It was weeks before Ken learned how to throw a punch, with Reiko instead focusing on teaching Ken how to move, dodge, evade. Ken was smaller, slighter, and Reiko was adamant that he play to his strengths. 

“You’re never going to overpower someone my size,” Reiko stated calmly as he threw punch after punch with Ken haphazardly ducking away, more coordinated than he was when he first began but with all the grace of a baby giraffe learning to walk for the first time, “but you can be quicker than they are, can distract them and unbalance them, and then your strikes, when they come, will be all the more effective.” 

July faded into August, and as the new school term approached, Ken felt the weight he had been carrying since that day in the alleyway nearly six months ago start to fall away. Though he remained slim, his muscles began to toughen with the regular exercise, his steps just a hint surer walking through the 14th Ward with each day that passed. He found himself more level-headed, no longer prone to fits of rage with daily meditation practice, and it was as if the world opened up around him as a result. 

He noticed the lines of tension around his mother’s eyes, the way her smile would sag when she thought he wasn’t looking, her body drooping with exhaustion from the extra hours she had taken on recently. He caught Mirai in a lie when she came home one evening, claiming that she was out with her friend Daichi, who he knew was currently out of town with his family. He had spotted Tobe Ishi’s hands shaking as she was re-shelving books. 

He felt more awake than he ever had before, and he marveled at it. 

By the time the school term was about to start, he could fend off Reiko’s blows with ease, jumping and dodging launched projectiles meant to mimic an opponent’s _kagune_ without his heart rate skyrocketing, without panic or fear clouding his mind. He bade his time, ducking and dodging, blocking and waiting patiently until, during one of their last sessions, he saw his opportunity and struck, tipping Reiko off balance and, for the first time, sending the larger man sprawling onto the mat. 

The two froze for one moment, and then another, before Reiko burst into laughter. After a moment Ken joined him, startled though he was. It took him a moment before he realized and quickly moved to help his stepfather up. 

Reiko stood and pounded Ken on the back, smiling broadly. The scarred tissue running in a line just underneath his left eye crinkled, and his eyes shone with the ferocity of his pride. 

Their lessons petered out after the school term began, with Ken unable to continue waking at five am while also getting his schoolwork done. After a few weeks of classes, he began to feel restlessness set into his bones. It was not the same as his rage from the beginning of the summer, but it made him feel off balance all the same. 

That was when Reiko made his proposal. 

When Hide returned from his summer vacation, desperate to be rid of his passive-aggressively (or, when alone with each other, overtly aggressively) quarreling parents, he was shocked to see the subtle changes in his friend. 

He was even more surprised when that same friend asked if Hide would join the school’s track team with him. 

“Are you joking? You...and me...and the track team…?” was Hide’s immediate response, his speech coming out slowly as he sounded out the proposition. Ken shrugged, more than a little put out at Hide’s immediate, dramatic shock.

“Why is it so unbelievable that I’d want to try out for the track team?” Ken was not pouting, definitely not. 

Hide tipped back his head and let out a boisterous laugh, clapping Ken on the shoulder. “Nah, man, I think it’s awesome! You’ve just never wanted to do anything like this before! What changed? When I asked you last year if you wanted to join the broadcasting club with me you couldn’t get away fast enough!” 

“I.. uh…” Ken struggled to find an answer that wasn’t ‘my ghoul stepfather has been teaching me to fight and I need some way to keep in shape now’. “I started, ah… running! For fun! Running… over the, ah, summer,” was what he decided on. 

Hide raised a skeptical brow at that, but quickly dropped the subject, intent on instead regaling Ken with tales of his trip to Australia. 

Very quickly into tryouts, the last of Hide’s skepticism had left him. He watched with a not insignificant amount of awe as Ken repeatedly outpaced their peers, sprinting faster than he would have believed possible, continuing around the track seeming hardly out of breath when other runners were panting and dragging on around him. 

“Well, buddy,” Hide told Ken after they had finished tryouts and the team had been announced, with both Ken and Hide’s names making the list, “who knew you were hiding an olympic athlete underneath all those books!” 

And while he was no olympic athlete, he quickly became one of their high school’s more notable track stars. Whereas before the summer break he went easily unnoticed by most of his peers, content to fade into the background, it became harder and harder to continue existing on the fringes. 

This was because now he had more friends than just Hide (though Hide was still his _best_ friend, of course). Other boys on the track team invited him over to their houses to hang out after school. Students he didn’t know started saying hello to him in the hallways, calling him by his name. He was by no means popular, nor did he wish to be, but nor was he nearly invisible in the eyes of the rest of the school like he’d once been.

Best of all, regularly moving his body in this way, along with the occasional weekend morning practice session with Reiko, kept him from feeling like he was about to crawl out of his own skin, and that was all that mattered. 

<>

_One Year Post-Incident_

The morning after the 14th Ward track and field qualifiers, Ken woke lazily, eyes fluttering open. Turning onto his side, his eye was immediately caught by the glinting gold of the medal that rested on his bedside table, which he had won just yesterday, and he smiled at the memory.

Dashing across the finish line of the 100m sprint feeling like he was running on air, hearing the cheers of his family from the stands with Mirai’s shrieks the loudest of them all. Standing atop the first place podium as his team hollered from the sidelines, with a warm feeling that was slowly becoming more familiar to him growing in his chest. 

Turning back to stare at his ceiling, he lay there for a moment more before slowly moving through his morning ablutions. 

Ken made his way out into the kitchen just as Mirai, her voice a tad sharper than normal, responded, “Nothing! Just… excited to see Daichi today.” 

Ken raised an eyebrow. “Really?” He asked as he made a bee-line for the box of his favorite cereal, “Didn’t you spend all day with him yesterday?” She had run off after the track meet, insisting to their parents she was going to meet her friend, but Ken had seen her return later that evening covered in dirt and suspected that she had gone to the clearing to practice by herself. 

He had suspected for a while now that she was practicing on her own, his sister was really not a good liar. At first he had been angry, though this was not particularly remarkable because at the time most things had made him angry. But as time went on, he came to the conclusion that this must just be something she felt she needed to do herself. And, once his secret training with Reiko began, once he had something just for himself, something that made him feel stronger, he could empathize. 

Though that did not mean he wasn’t going to give her a hard time about it. 

His sister winced, caught, and he smiled to himself as he looked away from her, pretending to busy himself with pouring his cereal to give her time to fumble for an excuse, something about her favorite manga to which, predictably, their father took issue, 

Seating himself at their modest kitchen table, he basked in his family’s gentle banter, laughing when Mirai feigned vomiting at their parents expressions of affection. 

He finished eating, his mind already distracted by his plans to complete his newest novel entitled _Dear Kafka_. It was a fascinating yet sorrowful examination of human nature, and was quickly becoming one of his all-time favorite reads. Just as he was putting away his dishes, he caught the tail end of his mother’s words to his sister. 

“What do you mean, you’re _both_ working today?” Ken interjected, moving closer to his mother, “Mother, you haven’t had a weekend off in--” 

“Let it be, Ken,” she interrupted him, resting a hand on his shoulder. He could see the exhaustion in her frame, the tired resignation in her eyes, and as she continued on he saw what was happening.

“This is for Aunt Aiya again, isn’t it? Didn’t she come by just a few weeks ago? You can’t keep working yourself to the bone for her!” 

It was not the first time Ken had protested his mother’s extreme generosity. Their Aunt Aiya was a leech, never visiting for anything other than her requests for money. She and Ken shared a mutual dislike of each other, and while he’d never done more than snipe at her whenever she dropped by unannounced, he longed to tell her what he really thought about her complete disregard for their family. 

No other issue made him question his obedience to and respect for his parents like this one did. 

Their argument seemed as though it was going to escalate, the metaphorical steam starting to billow from Ken’s ears, when Reiko stepped in. 

“And besides, with my income alongside your mother’s, we’ll have more than enough for Aiya without either of us working ourselves to death.” Reiko glanced meaningfully at Ken who, realizing this was not a fight he was going to win, breathed deeply in his discontent. 

Soon after, his parents and sister made their exits and Ken found himself alone in their apartment. 

Setting aside the issue of his Aunt Aiya for another day, he made his way back to his bedroom and settled in, diving back into _Dear Kafka_ with gleeful abandon. 

The hours passed without Ken’s notice, and by the time he looked up, his eyes aching just a little from the depth of his focus, the sky outside his window was tinged orange with sunset. 

Realizing he should probably spend some time on his schoolwork, he set aside the enrapturing book and readied himself to start on an arithmetic assignment just as the slamming of the front door and the soft sounds of sobs from outside startled him.

Immediately knowing something was wrong, he left his room to see his sister curled up on the floor. 

“Mirai!” he cried, alarmed, “What...what’s wrong?” He quickly scanned over her, kneeling down and helping her sit up, and didn’t see any obvious injuries. 

“Oh, Ken, it was so… so awful!” Mirai sobbed, holding him close, and all he could do was hold her in return, rubbing her back and trying to stem his internal monologue of all of the things that could be wrong. 

_Wait until she tells you what happened before panicking_ , he told himself. 

When Mirai had cried herself out, Ken quickly bustled her over to the futon, setting her down and wrapping a blanket around her. “What happened, Mirai?” He asked again, and this time she had an answer for him.

“There were investigators,” she said quietly, “they were outside Tobe books and… they had a woman. She was tied up, they injected her with something.” Understanding passed between the two without words being said that the woman in question was, in fact, a ghoul. It wasn’t like CCG investigators bothered themselves with regular human criminals. Everyone knew that. 

“They were taking her away…” his sister’s voice trailed off, and she shuddered with horror, “Why? What are they gonna do to her?” She looked at him then, eyes pleading, desperate for him to tell her that everything was going to be alright. 

“I don’t know,” he said to her, though he did in fact have an inkling. Their father had, on one occasion, mentioned a holding facility used by the CCG to… interrogate… captured ghouls. 

From the look in Reiko’s eyes as he’d spoken of the place, ‘interrogation’ was clearly a euphemism for something decidedly more sinister.

“And then Aunt Aiya appeared just when I got home,” his sister continued and Ken immediately sat up, his eyes narrowing at the mention of their delinquent aunt. “And Mom went with her somewhere, and Ken, something doesn’t feel right! I’m… I’m scared,” her lower lip wobbled and, in an attempt to keep her from bursting into tears again, Ken gathered her in his arms and held her close. 

“I’m here, Mimi,” he murmured to her, and resolved to stay with her there for as long as she needed him. 

They sat together, in silence, watching the door and waiting for their mother to return. In his periphery, Ken saw the last remnants of the sun wink out behind the horizon. 

A sudden movement at the door, the rustling of the doorknob as a key was inserted and turned, had the two siblings startling and rushing over to greet their newly arrived father. 

He immediately noticed their vague disappointment, noticed the redness of Mirai’s eyes. “What happened?” 

Mirai and Ken filled him in as best they could, Mirai stammering out her ordeal as their father sagely listened. He too narrowed his eyes at the mention of Aiya, though he was quick to reassure the two. 

“I’m sure your mother will be along soon,” he ushered them into the kitchen and started preparing their evening meal, his children watching him from the table, “and I am _definitely_ sure that she wouldn’t want you two sitting here worrying about her.” 

Reiko quickly and efficiently prepared a light soup for the three of them, setting a pot of water to boil and fishing out a packet of noodles from the cupboard. 

As he set the food down at the table some time later, Ken and Mirai had significantly relaxed, lightheartedly discussing Ken’s track meet the previous day. 

“And Kojima was _so_ mad you beat him!” Mirai giggled at the self-satisfied look on Ken’s face, “his face was _soooo_ red standing on the second place podium!” 

“Well,” Ken’s attempted nonchalance was not quite as believable as he would have liked it to be, “He’ll definitely be coming for me at regionals, that’s for sure,” 

“And I am sure you will do your best then, as well,” Reiko added, placing bowls down in front of brother and sister before taking a seat for himself. 

Just as he raised his spoon to his mouth, a knock sounded at the front door. 

“Ah, that must be your mother,” Reiko observed aloud, and then, muttering more to himself, “that’s odd, did she forget her key?” 

Standing at the front door was a man, in a black-and-white checkered vest, clasping a hat between his hands and his eyes downturned. 

“Kuromoto Reiko, I presume?” He asked, to which Reiko nodded.

From their seats, Ken and Mirai peered over at the front entrance, their smiles slowly dropping off their faces and their unease from early slowly returning as they watched the scene in front of them. 

“It’s about your wife, Kaneki Hina. I am… I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but…” 

<>

Kaneki Hina huffed as she walked down the empty, dimly lit street, her arms crossed and her breath fogging out in front of her. Of course Aiya had insisted she stay to help her sort out her affairs after everything at the bank was settled. She did love her sister, but the woman drove her spare. 

She turned the corner, her steps brisk, when the sounds of feet hitting concrete doubled. She did not hear the second set of footsteps approaching behind her, not until it was too late. 

Suddenly, a force pulled her sideways, hands grabbing at her forearms and dragging her into an alleyway. 

Hina opened her mouth to cry out and an oily hand clamped itself over her face, smothering the sounds of her screams. She writhed frantically, trying to free herself, but to no avail. 

“Shhh…” she could feel hot, stale breath on the nape of her neck as she was pushed up against cold brick, “don’t waste your breath, Hina-darling, no one’s around for _miles,”_

She startled at use of her name, redoubling her desperate attempts to get away, and the man holding her only laughed in response. He pressed his body up against hers, pinning her in place and moving his other hand to curl around her neck. 

“I’m so happy I get to be the one to do this,” he chuckled in her ear like they were friends, “since I wasn’t there when they took care of your precious husband… what was his name, again?” He hummed in faux contemplation, his hand tightening around her neck.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a _long_ time, about finally ending you and the _scum_ you paraded around with all those years ago,” he spat out, flecks of spittle landing on the back of her head. His hand tightened further, further, and Hina’s screams weakened as air failed to circulate back into her lungs. “I’ve had nothing _but_ time, thanks to you,” 

Hina’s vision started greying out, black spots swallowing up her vision, and as her eyes closed she saw the faces of her children, of her love, in her mind’s eye, and a single tear slipped down her cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know track is a spring sport don't @ me, this isn't real life hehe
> 
> also some more spooky foreshadowing for you oOoOo ;)


End file.
